2014年经济学人 城市觅食 炫目的沙拉

Urban foraging¹

Salad daze²

Hipsters are foraging for greens in urban parks

SHOPPING for salad in supermarkets is too easy. A bag of ready-washed baby greens costs only 3 at Walmart, and takes no time to lift from the shelf. So a new breed of foodie spends hours foraging for plants in city parks and vacant lots. For what can compare with the joy of ripping up the roots of a mallow plant and eating the mucus they produce when boiled? Many wild American plants are edible³ but unavailable in supermarkets: dandelion, pig weed, bull thistle, skunk⁴ vine. But not everyone recognises them. Enter the foraging gurus, who teach hipsters how to pluck on the wild side.

“Green Deane” Jordan charges 30 for a foraging excursion in Orlando, Florida; demand exceeds supply, he says. New foraging apps, websites and books are making it easier than ever to score free food. But this only part of the story.

Foraging fits the anti-corporate faith of many hipsters. People are “yearning for something that's real”, says Frank Grindrod, who teaches foraging in Massachusetts. Urban parks typically offer more plant varieties than similarly sized wilderness⁵ areas. And city greenery holds more calories per acre than wildlands that are picked over by deer, says Steve “Wildman” Brill, who sells a 26-language “Wild Edibles” app and gives foraging tours in New York city parks.

Wild food tastes better than you might expect, enthusiasts⁶ say. Cattail roots, roasted until caramelised, have a pleasant chestnut⁷ flavour. The mucus of the mallow plant can substitute for egg whites to enrich meringues.

Roughly 18% of Americans forage⁸ at least once a year, up from 13% in 1999, says Marla Emery, a geographer⁹ at the US Forest Service. ForageSF, a San Francisco firm, serves 100 dinners with foraged¹⁰ ingredients such as beached kelp and fennel pollen¹¹. Iso Rabins, the founder¹², had hoped to employ staff foragers but found that the laudable attributes of folks willing to forage full-time¹³ did not include promptness in returning calls or punctuality. He now uses freelances instead.

1 foraging   

v.搜寻（食物），尤指动物觅（食）( forage的现在分词 )；（尤指用手）搜寻（东西）

参考例句：

• They eke out a precarious existence foraging in rubbish dumps. 他们靠在垃圾场捡垃圾维持着朝不保夕的生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The campers went foraging for wood to make a fire. 露营者去搜寻柴木点火。 来自辞典例句

2 daze   

v.(使)茫然，(使)发昏

参考例句：

• The blow on the head dazed him for a moment.他头上受了一击后就昏眩了片刻。
• I like dazing to sit in the cafe by myself on Sunday.星期日爱独坐人少的咖啡室发呆。

3 edible   

n.食品，食物；adj.可食用的

参考例句：

• Edible wild herbs kept us from dying of starvation.我们靠着野菜才没被饿死。
• This kind of mushroom is edible,but that kind is not.这种蘑菇吃得，那种吃不得。

4 skunk   

n.臭鼬，黄鼠狼；v.使惨败，使得零分；烂醉如泥

参考例句：

• That was a rotten thing to do, you skunk!那种事做得太缺德了，你这卑鄙的家伙！
• The skunk gives off an unpleasant smell when attacked.受到攻击时臭鼬会发出一种难闻的气味。

5 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

6 enthusiasts   

n.热心人，热衷者( enthusiast的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A group of enthusiasts have undertaken the reconstruction of a steam locomotive. 一群火车迷已担负起重造蒸汽机车的任务。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Now a group of enthusiasts are going to have the plane restored. 一群热心人计划修复这架飞机。 来自新概念英语第二册

7 chestnut   

n.栗树，栗子

参考例句：

• We have a chestnut tree in the bottom of our garden.我们的花园尽头有一棵栗树。
• In summer we had tea outdoors,under the chestnut tree.夏天我们在室外栗树下喝茶。

8 forage   

n.(牛马的)饲料，粮草；v.搜寻，翻寻

参考例句：

• They were forced to forage for clothing and fuel.他们不得不去寻找衣服和燃料。
• Now the nutritive value of the forage is reduced.此时牧草的营养价值也下降了。

9 geographer   

n.地理学者

参考例句：

• His grandfather is a geographer.他的祖父是一位地理学家。
• Li Siguang is a famous geographer.李四光是一位著名的地理学家。

10 foraged   

v.搜寻（食物），尤指动物觅（食）( forage的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指用手）搜寻（东西）

参考例句：

• He foraged about in the cupboard. 他在碗橱里到处寻找食物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She foraged about in her handbag, but she couldn't find her ticket. 她在她的手提包里搜寻，但她没能找到她的票子。 来自辞典例句

11 pollen   

n.[植]花粉

参考例句：

• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。
• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。

12 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

13 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。