美国国家公共电台 NPR The Chicken Is Local, But Was It Happy? GPS Now Tells The Life Story Of Your Poultry

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

Peter and Nance¹ are a couple out to dinner on the television show "Portlandia." They think they'd like to get the chicken. But first, they have a few questions.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "PORTLANDIA")

CARRIE BROWNSTEIN: (As Nance) Is that USDA organic or Oregon organic or Portland organic?

DANA MILLICAN: (As server) It's just all across the board organic.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: The server pulls out a file with a detailed² bio and a photo attached.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "PORTLANDIA")

MILLICAN: (As server) So here is the chicken you'll be enjoying tonight.

FRED ARMISEN: (As Peter) You have this - this is fantastic.

MILLICAN: (As server) Absolutely. His name was Colin. Here are his papers, OK?

ARMISEN: (As Peter) That's great. He looks like a happy, little...

BROWNSTEIN: (As Nance) Yeah.

ARMISEN: (As Peter) ...Guy who runs around - a lot of friends, other chickens as friends - putting his little wing around another one and kind of like...

MILLICAN: (As server) You know...

ARMISEN: (As Peter) ...Pal-ing around.

MILLICAN: (As server) I don't know that I can speak to that level of intimate knowledge about him.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: New technology promises to do just that with trackers affixed³ to the leg of your future dinner. It's part of a growing trend to know where your food comes from. Robyn Metcalfe is a food historian at the University of Texas at Austin.

Welcome.

ROBYN METCALFE: Thank you - glad to be here.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: All right. So this is real. A Chinese company has developed a tracking device for chickens. Tell us how it works.

METCALFE: Oh, gosh. Imagine a chicken with a sort of leg band strapped⁴ on with a GPS tracker. Every move of that chicken is being tracked so that people who, potentially, will buy that chicken will know every step that that chicken has taken.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: And it's really happening. This is already a thing.

METCALFE: It's a thing, although I - really is sort of a test bed in China. Only one company has really come out and talked about this kind of thing. So proof of concept in the company that's doing it is an insurance company. So, obviously, they're trying to look at technology for ways to lower risk. And this might be one of those ways. Who knows?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: When you're saying lower risk, what do you mean?

METCALFE: Well, if you really wanted to make sure that a chicken is being sold for what it actually is - let's say free range. You want to know what's really free ranging. You don't want to get your company open to litigation from someone who thought they had a walk-about chicken and, actually, it wasn't. So there's that. And also, food safety issues come up in terms of tracking animals around the farms these days.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: So what do you mean by food safety issues?

METCALFE: The whole idea of using this technology for tracking food through the supply chain is of real interest to companies who want to validate⁵ the safety of food going through the food system. So if you have a foodborne illness breakout, like we just saw with romaine lettuce⁶ or raw turkey meat, you can use this technology moving through the supply chain to really be much more responsive about where it happened, why it happened, to recall and fix these problems.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: It's interesting when you say lose because some segments of agriculture, especially those that raise animals on an industrial scale, have not exactly been eager to let the public see what happens on their farms. Why would they embrace this?

METCALFE: Well, it's not a slam dunk. I mean, there's this whole sort of open-data movement, the collaboration⁷ of how we're going to use all of this data to improve all kinds of systems not to mention the food system. But the food industry is quite vulnerable. I mean, on one hand, how you move food through your own supply chain is, in effect, your intellectual property. And so you may not be all that willing to, say, sign up to some of this new technology, like, you know, upload everything that's going on in your barn and your farm or in your food-processing facility. So that's one reason to be hesitant.

The other is on the one hand, we want everyone to be, you know, visible and open and share this data. But also, our food system could be open for hacking⁸ or, you know, security risks or even terrorism. This is a negotiation⁹ that we're all having to make - the choice between how open, how trusting and then also how safe we want our food system to be. So I am a, you know, technology optimist¹⁰. I see it's coming. It's already here. But how do we navigate¹¹ through this sort of tension between open and sharing and safe and trusted? It'll be really interesting to watch.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Robyn Metcalfe is the author of "Food Routes: Growing Bananas In Iceland And Other Tales From The Logistics Of Eating," which comes out next month. Thank you so much.

METCALFE: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF WASHED OUT'S "FEEL IT ALL AROUND")

1 nance   

n.娘娘腔的男人，男同性恋者

参考例句：

• I think he's an awful nance.我觉得他这个人太娘娘腔了。
• He doesn't like to be called a nance.他不喜欢被叫做娘娘腔。

2 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

3 affixed   

adj.[医]附着的，附着的v.附加( affix的过去式和过去分词 )；粘贴；加以；盖（印章）

参考例句：

• The label should be firmly affixed to the package. 这张标签应该牢牢地贴在包裹上。
• He affixed the sign to the wall. 他将标记贴到墙上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 strapped   

adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• Make sure that the child is strapped tightly into the buggy. 一定要把孩子牢牢地拴在婴儿车上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soldiers' great coats were strapped on their packs. 战士们的厚大衣扎捆在背包上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 validate   

vt.（法律）使有效，使生效

参考例句：

• You need an official signature to validate the order.你要有正式的签字，这张汇票才能生效。
• In order to validate the agreement,both parties sign it.为使协议有效，双方在上面签了字。

6 lettuce   

n.莴苣；生菜

参考例句：

• Get some lettuce and tomatoes so I can make a salad.买些莴苣和西红柿，我好做色拉。
• The lettuce is crisp and cold.莴苣松脆爽口。

7 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

8 hacking   

n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动

参考例句：

• The patient with emphysema is hacking all day. 这个肺气肿病人整天不断地干咳。
• We undertook the task of hacking our way through the jungle. 我们负责在丛林中开路。

9 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

10 optimist   

n.乐观的人，乐观主义者

参考例句：

• We are optimist and realist.我们是乐观主义者，又是现实主义者。
• Peter,ever the optimist,said things were bound to improve.一向乐观的皮特说，事情必定是会好转的。

11 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。