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吃肉已经耗尽地球资源(中)

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The Industrial Revolution changed meat.

工业革命改变了肉。

In the 19th century, refrigeration enabled meat to be trucked in from far away, or shipped from even further away, which eventually led to the razing of forests in places like Brazil.

在19世纪,冷藏技术使人们可以用卡车从远方运输肉,或者用轮船从更远的地方运输肉,这最终导致了巴西等地的森林被砍伐。

Production became more efficient.

生产变得更有效率。

By the late 1940s, antibiotics became routine in chicken feed.

到1940年代末,在鸡饲料中加抗生素成为常规做法。

By the late 1990s, genetically modified corn and soy brought bumper crops of animal feed.

到了1990年代末,转基因玉米和大豆带来了丰盛的动物饲料。

Animals were bred to be bigger and faster-growing.

动物被养育得更大、生长更快。

In the U.S., government subsidies helped: free groundwater, federally backed loans, price guarantees for feed crops.

在美国,政府补贴提供了以下帮助:免费的地下水、联邦政府支持的贷款、饲料作物的价格保证。

And meat went big.

于是肉也开始流行起来。

Today the $1 trillion global meat industry is dominated by a handful of corporations, including JBS, Cargill, and Tyson.

如今,价值1万亿美元的全球肉类行业由少数几家公司主导,包括巴西的肉食加工商JBS、嘉吉食品公司和泰森食品公司。

Since 1961, meat production has quadrupled, dwarfing the growth in the human population, which merely doubled.

自1961年以来,肉类产量已变为原来的四倍,人口增长与之相形见绌,仅变为原来的两倍。

Meat went from being special to being an everyday entitlement.

肉从特殊食品变成了日常应有的食品。

The more we prospered, the more flesh we ate.

我们生活越繁荣,吃的肉就越多。

China’s meat consumption jumped sharply, from about 6.6 pounds per capita in 1961 to more than 140 pounds in 2021.

中国的肉类消费量急剧上升,从1961年的人均约6.6磅增加到2021年的人均140多磅。

But the United States became the lions of Planet Carnivore.

但美国成为了食肉动物星球上的狮子。

On average, Americans went from eating around 207 pounds of meat in 1961 to 280 pounds, in 2021, and chicken came to dominate.

平均而言,美国人的肉类消费量从1961年的约207磅增加到了2021年的280磅,其中鸡肉占据了主导地位。

In 2022, Americans ate 100 pounds of chicken per capita, double the amount 40 years ago.

2022年,美国人吃掉了100磅鸡肉,是40年前的两倍。

It wasn’t just chicken consumption that changed.

不仅仅是鸡肉的消费发生了变化。

It was the bird itself.

鸡本身也发生了变化。

Follow, as I have, a chicken truck to the slaughterhouse — birds crammed into cages, feathers flying across the road — and you realize how profoundly we have altered the nature of the animal.

如果你像我一样跟着运活禽的卡车去屠宰场——鸡被塞进笼子里,羽毛飞得到处都是——你就会意识到我们多么深刻地改变了动物的本性。

Thanks to feed and breeding, an 8-week-old chicken today is about four times heavier than an 8-week-old chicken was 60 years ago.

由于饲料和育种,如今一只8周大的鸡的体重是60年前一只8周大的鸡的体重的四倍左右。

Their breasts are so large that they can have a hard time standing.

这些鸡的胸部太大,以至于它们站都站不住。

The New Factory Farm

新型工厂化农场

Future chicken may not have to stand at all.

未来的鸡可能根本不需要站立。

Why bother having feet? Or wings? Or beaks?

为什么还要有脚呢?或者还要有翅膀?有喙?

All that animal eats up scarce resources: land, water, feed, time.

所有这些动物都消耗了稀缺的资源:土地、水、饲料、时间。

This is the theory of change for the cellular-meat industry.

这就是细胞肉行业的变革理论。

Take away the animal. Grow the animal tissue.

把动物拿走。直接培养动物组织。

Cellular meat injects itself into many of the fraught ethical, environmental and financial dilemmas around meat consumption.

细胞肉将自身卷入围绕肉类消费而展开的许多令人担忧的伦理、环境和财务困境中。

Industrial farms, where animals live short, crowded lives, often produce fewer emissions per pound of meat.

在工业化农场中,动物过着短暂而拥挤的生活,这种农场生产每磅肉所产生的温室气体排放量通常较少。

On small farms that eschew chemicals, animals live arguably better lives, but they produce more expensive meat and, usually, more greenhouse gas emissions.

在那些避免使用化学品的小型农场,动物的生活可以说更好,但生产的肉类价格更高,而且通常会产生更多的温室气体排放。

With cultivated meats, there are no animals, and no concern over animal welfare.

而对于细胞肉,既然没有动物存在,也就没有对动物福利的担忧。

They may still rely on genetically modified corn and soy for feedstock, but if bioreactors run on renewable energy they will have a smaller climate footprint.

生产这种肉可能仍然依赖转基因玉米和大豆作为原料,但如果生物反应器用可再生能源运行,那么它们的气候足迹就会更小。

Meat production today accounts for somewhere between 10 and 20 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions, depending on how you measure it.

肉类生产如今占温室气体排放总量的10%至20%之间,具体取决于你的计算方式。

Reducing those emissions is vital if the world is to reduce the hazards of planetary heating.

如果世界要减少全球变暖的危险,那么减少这些排放至关重要。

重点单词   查看全部解释    
antibiotics [.æntibai'ɔtiks]

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n. 抗生素,抗生学

 
vital ['vaitl]

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adj. 至关重要的,生死攸关的,有活力的,致命的

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eschew [is'tʃu:]

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vt. 避开,回避,戒绝

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global ['gləubəl]

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adj. 全球性的,全世界的,球状的,全局的

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routine [ru:'ti:n]

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n. 例行公事,常规,无聊
adj. 常规的,

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eventually [i'ventjuəli]

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adv. 终于,最后

 
planetary ['plænitəri]

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adj. 行星的,有轨道的

 
efficient [i'fiʃənt]

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adj. 效率高的,胜任的

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tissue ['tiʃu:]

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n. (生物的)组织,织物,薄绢,纸巾

 
greenhouse ['gri:nhaus]

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n. 温室,暖房

 

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