全球浪费：引人深思 Global waste: food for thought

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English, I’m Chris and with me today is Jen.
大家好，欢迎来到今天的BBC六分钟英语，我是Chris，今天和我一起为大家讨论的是Jen。
Hi there… Mmmm… Phew, I’m full. Well, I don’t want this other sandwich. Where’s the bin?
大家好！哎呀，我太饱了。好吧，我吃不下剩下的三明治了，垃圾桶在哪？
Jen, are you going to throw away that sandwich?
Jen，你打算扔掉那个三明治吗？
What’s wrong with throwing it in the bin?
把它扔到垃圾桶有什么问题吗？
Before you throw it away, let’s talk about today’s topic shall we? Global food waste.Now, how often do you throw food away?
在你丢掉它之前，我们开始今天的话题，可以吗？全球食品浪费。现在，你多久丢弃一次食物？
Well, I don’t waste food all the time.It’s usually when I’ve bought too much food and later I realise it has expired – or gone out of date.
我从来都不浪费食物的。这种情况通常发生在当我买了太多食物的情况下，之后我意识到食物已经过期或者超过生产日期，我就会扔掉这些食物。
Yes, I’ve done the same thing from time to time.But did you know that globally we are getting worse at wasting, or throwing away, water and food – food that is often still edible?
的确，我也时常做同样的事。但是，你知道全世界的人们在浪费、扔掉水和食物方面都做的越来越差，并且这些食物还依然能食用。
I suppose it’s not such a good thing to throw away food – especially when some people are desperately hungry.
我认为扔掉食物不是什么好事，尤其是很多人还在饥饿边缘挣扎。
Absolutely. Now, before we go on, I’ve got a question for you – see if you can answer it.How much food is wasted every year around the world? Is it:a) 5,000 tonnesb) 1 million tonnesc) 1.3 billion tonnes
当然了。现在在我们继续话题之前，我有个问题，看你是否能够回答。全世界每年浪费多少食物？5千吨100万吨13亿吨
I think it’s going to be quite a high number so I’m going to go for c), 1.3 billion tonnes.
我想那将是一个相当大的数字，我选C
OK, I’ll reveal the answer for you at the end of the programme.Now, a conference in Sweden met recently to discuss food and water waste around the world.They say that about a quarter of the food that is produced for us to eat doesn’t actually make it to our dinner plates – it is wasted.
好的，在节目最后我将告诉你答案。现在，最近在瑞典举行了会议，讨论世界各地的食品和水的浪费问题。会议称四分之一为人们吃饭问题而生产的食物实际上并没有进入我们的餐盘——这些食品被浪费掉了。
A quarter! Why is all this food being wasted?
四分之一！为什么这些食品一直被浪费掉？
Well, it varies. In wealthier countries one problem is our attitude to the way food should look when we buy it.Here’s a clip from a report by BBC Correspondent Mark Doyle – what do consumers in richer countries expect from their food?
其实是有所变化的。在富裕一点的国家，问题之一是当我们购买食物的时候，我们应该看看自己对待食物的态度。这里是一部分BBC记者Mark Doyle的报告——富裕国家的消费者对他们的食物抱有哪些希望？
Delegates to the conference in Sweden were told that about a quarter of the food we produce worldwide never reaches our plates.The way food is wasted varies.In richer countries, consumers expect their food to look so perfect that slightly blemished, though perfectly nutritious, fruit and vegetables never reach the supermarkets.
瑞典会议的代表们被告知，全世界生产的大约四分之一的食物并没有到达人们的餐盘。食物被浪费的方式是多种多样的。在富裕国家，消费者期待他们的食品看起来很完美，略有瑕疵，既然营养丰富，这样的水果也永远无法进入超级市场。
So consumers expect their food to look absolutely perfect.
因此，消费者期待他们的食物看起来绝对完美。
That’s right. Imagine you’re in a supermarket and you want to buy a banana.One banana looks perfect; another one has a blemish – or a mark – on it.Which would you buy? Both bananas are perfectly nutritious to eat.
没错。想象你在超级市场，你想买香蕉。一个香蕉看起来很完美，另一个有瑕疵或标记在上面。你会买哪个？两个香蕉营养都很丰富。
Well, I’d probably take the one that looked perfect.
那么，我很可能买第一个看起来完美的。
Exactly, and supermarkets do the same, but on a much bigger scale.They ask the farmers who supply them with fruit and vegetables to throw away any items that have imperfections.
的确，超市也是这么做的，但是是更大规模。他们要求供应他们水果和蔬菜的农民们扔掉看起来不完美的。
Which means lots are wasted, even if they are perfectly nutritious to eat.So maybe our reliance on supermarkets is one of the reasons why richer countries are wasting so much?
那意味着很多都被浪费了，即使他们营养丰富。因此可能我们对超市的依赖就是为什么富裕国家浪费如此多的原因之一。
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, the average European or North American consumer wastes between 95-115kg of food per year.Compare that with people in sub-Saharan Africa who waste only 6-11kg per year.
根据联合国食品和农业组织，欧洲或北美平均每年浪费95到115吨的食物。和在撒哈拉以南的非洲地区的人相比，每年只有浪费6到11公斤的食物。
Astonishing.
令人惊讶。
But there is food waste in developing countries too, but it’s not from consumers – most of the waste is on farms.Let’s hear another clip from Mark Doyle’s report – why are farms in developing countries wasting so much?
但是在发展中国家也有食物浪费，但是不是来自消费者——而是来自农村。让我们来听Mark Doyle的报告，为什么发展国家的农村浪费如此严重？
In poorer, developing, countries most of the waste is on farms.Inefficient farming techniques are part of the problem and hot and humid conditions make storing crops difficult.Pests and diseases take their toll too.
在较穷的发展中国家，大部分浪费来自农村。效率低下的耕种技术是原因之一，炎热而潮湿的条件使保存粮食变得很困难。害虫和疾病也造成损失。
So farms in developing countries use inefficient farming techniques, which lead to waste.
因此发展中国家的农村使用效率低下的耕种技术导致了食物浪费。
It said that storing crops in hot and humid conditions can also be difficult.If you’ve ever left fruit out in the sun, it can quickly rot.
据说，在炎热潮湿的环境下保存粮食也很困难。如果你曾把水果放在阳光下，它就会迅速腐坏。
In addition, pests – such as flies and rats – also take their toll.These pests spoil the crops and they have to be thrown away.
此外，害虫，比如苍蝇和老鼠也造成了部分损失。这些害虫破坏了粮食作物，这些粮食必须被扔掉。
So there needs to be investment in farming to improve things like food storage and packaging for the farming industry.
因此他们需要在耕种方面进行投资，以改善例如食品存储和打包这样的环节。
And it’s not just food; water is another precious resource being wasted.Now which industry do you think consumes the most fresh water?
而且并不只是食物，另一个珍贵的被浪费的资源是水。目前你认为，哪个工业消耗最多的淡水？
Perhaps the manufacturing industry?
可能是制造业？
In fact, it is agriculture through irrigation – or watering the land – so crops can grow.About 70% of all the fresh water used around the world is for farm irrigation.
事实上，是农业中的灌溉业，通过对土地浇水促进作物生长。全世界大约70%的淡水被用来灌溉。
If we’re wasting food, then farmers are wasting water to grow the food that is thrown away.
如果我们浪费食物，那么农民就是浪费水资源来灌溉那些被扔掉的食物。
Yes, food waste puts pressure on the supply of water too.Looking into the future, this will become a greater problem.By 2050, it’s likely we’ll be using 50% more fresh water to feed the extra 3 billion people on the planet.
是的，食物浪费给水供给也带来的压力。看看未来，这将是更大的问题。到了2050年，很可能我们将使用超过50%的淡水来养活超过30亿的人们。
So we need to think more carefully about food and water waste… Maybe I should hang on to this sandwich then.
因此我们需要认真想想关于食物和水浪费的问题...可能我应该留着这个三明治。
I think you should. Now, returning to the question I asked at the beginning of the programme:how much food is wasted every year around the world? Is it:a) 5,000 tonnesb) 1 million tonnesc) 1.3 billion tonnes
我想你应该留着，现在，回到我在节目开始问的问题。全世界有多少食物被浪费？5000吨100万吨13亿吨
And I said it was c) 1.3 billion tonnes.
我觉得是13亿吨。
And you were absolutely right. It’s a staggering amount of waste.
你答对了。这真是惊人的浪费。
It certainly is food for thought!
这真是引人深思啊！
I agree with that. Well, that’s all we’ve got time for. Do join us again for more 6 Minute English from bbclearningenglish.com. Bye for now!
我同意，到时间了，欢迎加入我们更多六分钟英语学习。
Bye!
拜拜！