吃中药长大的猪 你敢做第一个吃它的人吗?

Forget grass-fed beef and free-range poultry. China’s farmers say they have found the next big health-food craze: cows, pigs and ducks raised on a steady diet of ancient Chinese medicine. 

不要再谈什么吃草的肉牛和散养的家禽了。中国的农民表示，他们找到了健康饮食界的下一个狂热增长点：规律喂食传统中草药的猪牛鸡鸭。

Practitioners in China have prescribed bitter blends of medicinal plants and herbs for centuries to ward off disease in humans. Now, farmers are adapting the age-old elixirs — a dash of ginseng here, a speck of licorice there — for use on livestock. They’re hoping to tap into the growing popularity of traditional medicine and health food in Chinese society. 

许多世纪以来，中国的医师将药用植物和芳草混合成口感苦涩的方子，用以抵御人体疾病。如今，农民在把这种古老的灵丹妙药用在牲畜身上——这里加点人参，那里放点甘草。他们希望以此搭上传统医药与健康食品日益风靡中国社会的便车。

The results, they promise, are not only delicious but healthy: lean, juicy meats that can protect against colds, arthritis and other illnesses. (The science is less resounding, though one study did find that cows that were fed Chinese medicines performed better in hot weather.) 

他们保证，这样养出的肉类不仅可口，而且健康：肉质精瘦多汁，还可以预防感冒、关节炎及其他多种疾病。（其中的科学原理并不那么令人信服，不过有一项研究的确认为，吃了中草药的牛在天气较热的情况下表现更好。）

In the southern region of Guangxi, Lin Wenluo, 53, began mixing 22 kinds of herbs into the daily feed for his livestock several years ago. The pigs that Mr. Lin raises sell for $460, about $200 more than the typical price for conventional pigs, he said, and some customers even eat his meats instead of taking medicine.

在华南省份广西，现年53岁的林文罗几年前开始将22味草药加入自家牲畜的日常饲料中。他表示，自己养的生猪售价为3000元人民币，比传统喂养的市价高1300元左右，一些顾客甚至用吃他出产的猪肉来代替服药。

“The pigs raised this way don’t get sick, they have good texture and they’re meaty,” he said. 

“这样养出来的猪不会得病，猪肉口感好，肉质高，”他说。

Farmers like Mr. Lin hope that China’s increasingly health-conscious middle class will help bring medicinal meats into the mainstream. The health-food market in China reached $1 trillion last year, and it is expected to grow 20 percent annually for the next several years. 

林文罗这样的农户希望，越来越重视健康问题的中国中产阶级会有助于中草药养殖的肉类成为主流。中国的健康食品市场在去年达到了1万亿美元的规模，预计将在未来几年里取得每年20%的增长。

Mr. Lin said China was returning to something good from the past that had been neglected. “In the old days, we used traditional methods to feed the animals,” he said. “People’s longevity was very long.” 

林文罗认为，中国是在回归一度遭到忽视的优良历史传统。“过去的时候，我们用传统办法喂牲口，”他说。“人们很长寿。”