美国国家公共电台 NPR Milk! The 'Most Over-Argued Food In History'

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

Milk, that humdrum¹ household staple², has been at the center of some of today's big food fights. And some of those arguments over the importance of breast feeding, the healthiness of milk, even which animals make the best milk go back thousands of years. My guest, Mark Kurlansky, calls it the most argued-over food in human history. And he covers that history in his new book, "Milk!" He joins us today from New York. Thanks so much.

MARK KURLANSKY: Thank you.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: So much of our nation's food is made from dairy, which is, of course, milk. But you point out that humans are the only mammals that drink milk past weaning.

KURLANSKY: Naturally, yes. Yes. I have to admit that I feed milk to my cats, but...

(LAUGHTER)

GARCIA-NAVARRO: You're not supposed to do that.

KURLANSKY: No.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I know that to be true. I have a cat.

KURLANSKY: I know.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: They are oddly also lactose intolerant.

KURLANSKY: Well, you know, we're all supposed to be. We aren't meant to have milk past weaning. There is an enzyme³ called lactase, which deals with the lactose, which is a sugar that's in milk. And after a certain age in humans, about the age of 2, we stop producing it, and then we can't digest lactose. But for some reason, a genetic⁴ aberration⁵, which took place particularly in Europe, kept the lactase so that we could keep drinking milk. This is actually not normal. And even today, even though the number of people with this condition is growing, it's still only something like 40 percent of the human population that can drink milk.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yeah. In fact, I'm Hispanic. Our producer is of Pakistani descent, and our editor is of Vietnamese descent. And when we were talking about this book, we were all like, yeah, we're lactose intolerant.

KURLANSKY: Yeah. Yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

GARCIA-NAVARRO: So it made the point quite nicely. But milk has become this global food industry. How did that happen, briefly⁶?

KURLANSKY: It happened slowly. And for a very long time, very few people drank milk because, for reasons that people didn't understand, you got sick from milk if it stood around too long. You know, it was basically just people who lived on farms who drank milk, which is why it was sort of looked down upon. Like, the Romans looked down upon Northern Europeans for drinking milk because it was considered a backwards⁷ thing because where they came from, only farmers did it. And it really wasn't until 18th century that liquid milk started to become traded product.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yeah. And then they learned how to pasteurize, obviously.

KURLANSKY: One of the mysteries I solved for myself when I was researching this book is - you know, since Louis Pasteur invented pasteurization, why aren't the French more into it?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Good question.

KURLANSKY: And then I came to realize that Pasteur wasn't trying to pasteurize milk. He was actually trying to pasteurize wine, which seems much more French. But the process was adopted for milk. And the reason it was adopted is that infant mortality was horrendous⁸ - something like over half the deaths in cities were people under 5 years old. And they came to understand that this was from milk, and pasteurization solved that problem.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: There are movements that push to make milk production more humane⁹ for the animals involved, primarily cows. There's also a push from the non-GMO, hormone-free and organic farming movements. In your opinion, what is the future of milk?

KURLANSKY: Well, that is what farmers are trying to work out. Their problem is that there is a set price for milk in the U.S., fixed¹⁰ by the government. In different countries, like in Australia, it's fixed by supermarkets. But there seems that everywhere there's a fixed price for milk, and the price isn't nearly high enough. And you can charge more, but nobody will buy it because they can get this other lower-priced milk. But then there's all these other issues. Some people will pay more money for milk if it's GMO-free or if it's organic, but there's a catch. Usually, these things make the milk much more expensive to produce.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: So, I've got a personal question for you. Your book touches on many different types of animal milk - cow, buffalo¹¹, camel, yak¹². What's your favorite?

KURLANSKY: Ah. You know, for drinking milk - and I have to confess I'm not a big milk drinker - you know, we're kind of used to drinking cow milk.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: You buried the lead there, Mark.

KURLANSKY: Yeah, sorry. Cow milk is kind of bland¹³. And we're kind of used to bland. So if you have sheep milk or goat milk or camel milk - which actually tastes oddly similar to sheep milk - it has this other dimension of flavor, which is kind of nice if it doesn't shock you. When you get into things like cheese and yogurt, yak yogurt, which I don't think you can get anywhere but in Tibet, and in Tibet...

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I have had it.

KURLANSKY: Have you? Did you get it in Tibet?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I did.

KURLANSKY: Yak yogurt - isn't it wonderful?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Mm.

KURLANSKY: I love it.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Recommendations from Mark Kurlansky. His new book is "Milk!" Thank you so much for joining us.

KURLANSKY: My pleasure.

1 humdrum   

adj.单调的，乏味的

参考例句：

• Their lives consist of the humdrum activities of everyday existence.他们的生活由日常生存的平凡活动所构成。
• The accountant said it was the most humdrum day that she had ever passed.会计师说这是她所度过的最无聊的一天。

2 staple   

n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类

参考例句：

• Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
• Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。

3 enzyme   

n.酵素，酶

参考例句：

• Above a certain temperature,the enzyme molecule will become unfolded.超过一定温度，酶分子将会展开。
• An enzyme that dissolves the fibrin of blood clots.能溶解血凝块中的纤维的酶。

4 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

5 aberration   

n.离开正路，脱离常规，色差

参考例句：

• The removal of the chromatic aberration is then of primary importance.这时消除色差具有头等重要性。
• Owing to a strange mental aberration he forgot his own name.由于一种莫名的精神错乱，他把自己的名字忘了。

6 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

7 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

8 horrendous   

adj.可怕的，令人惊惧的

参考例句：

• He described it as the most horrendous experience of his life.他形容这是自己一生中最可怕的经历。
• The mining industry in China has a horrendous safety record.中国的煤矿工业具有令人不安的安全记录。

9 humane   

adj.人道的，富有同情心的

参考例句：

• Is it humane to kill animals for food?宰杀牲畜来吃合乎人道吗？
• Their aim is for a more just and humane society.他们的目标是建立一个更加公正、博爱的社会。

10 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

11 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

12 yak   

n.牦牛

参考例句：

• The most common materials Tibetan jewelry are Yak bone.藏饰最常见的材料当属牦牛骨。
• We can sell yak skin,meat and wool.我们可以卖牦牛的皮、肉和毛。

13 bland   

adj.淡而无味的，温和的，无刺激性的

参考例句：

• He eats bland food because of his stomach trouble.他因胃病而吃清淡的食物。
• This soup is too bland for me.这汤我喝起来偏淡。