VOA慢速英语2015 教美国孩子认识健康食物

Group Helps US Children Learn About Healthy Foods 教美国孩子认识健康食物

Our story begins at the John Burroughs Elementary School in Washington, DC. The school’s kindergarten students are staying late today -- an hour after classes normally end.

The boys and girls are not seeking help with reading skills or mathematics. They instead are tasting kale, a vegetable that many of them are eating for the first time.

Student Robert Smith says “it tastes good” as he eats the green leaves, with olive oil on them.

The school’s teachers are also learning about eating healthier. Dionne Hammiel says she has been encouraged to eat vegetables she never thought she would like.

“The kale, especially. It was like, ‘No thank you.’ So she said, ‘Try it this way.’ I was like, ‘Oh, I like it.’ So I went home and started making kale for myself.”

Ms. Hammiel says her students have learned healthy eating habits from the program. She hopes they will keep a healthy diet for the rest of their lives.  

The program is taught by young people like Karen Davison. She is a member of FoodCorps. The non-profit group gets money from the Americorps national service program.

Since the beginning of the school year, Ms. Davison has spent each day in this Washington, DC classroom. She gives the kindergarteners vegetables that many of them have never tasted. She teaches them where their food comes from and how they can choose to eat healthier meals.

“They see a lot of packaged food. If they eat vegetables, it’s not necessarily fresh. It’s not necessarily whole, so being able to bring in fresh vegetables, leafy greens, interesting fruit, is really a great experience for these students.”

FoodCorps was launched five years ago. It sends more than 180 young Americans to 500 schools across the United States. The young people teach students about nutrition and how they can eat healthy foods both at school and at home.

FoodCorps also works with other groups to plant vegetable gardens in schools and bring healthier foods to stores -- especially stores in cities. Many small urban stores often sell only packaged foods.

Maddie Morales is a member of FoodCorps. She says the group’s work is especially important in the fight against childhood obesity¹ – when a child has too much body fat. She notes that the child obesity rate in the United States is twice what it was 30 years ago.

“The repercussion² of having an unhealthy population is absolutely unacceptable and really scary in some ways that it affects our national security. It affects our ability to be a productive country and it is imperative³ that we change the system.”

In January, President Barack Obama’s wife Michelle asked FoodCorps cofounder Debra Eschmeyer to lead the government’s “Let’s Move” program. The goal of the campaign is to reduce childhood obesity through healthy eating and exercise.

In a statement, Mrs. Obama said Ms. Eschmeyer has taught children about the importance of healthy eating for more than ten years. She said: “From classrooms and gardens to kitchens and farms, Deb has made learning about nutrition fun and accessible for kids across the country.”

Ms. Eschmeyer joined Mrs. Obama at the White House Kitchen Garden planting in April. At the event, Mrs. Obama also marked the fifth year since the beginning of the “Let’s Move” program.

Mrs. Obama and students from around the country planted spinach⁴, radishes, bok choy, broccoli⁵ and lettuce⁶. She urged people to plant their own vegetables and tell on social media five things they are doing to lead healthier lives.

“Let’s share our progress because we are going to come back and harvest in a few months. And I would love to see what other community gardens, schools, school gardens are doing out there to move forward on getting our kids to eat healthy.”

Mrs. Obama began “Let’s Move” in February, 2010. She said she was worried about increasing obesity levels among American children. As obesity levels increase, so do the risks of diabetes⁷, heart disease and asthma⁸.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says more than one-third of American children and adolescents are overweight or obese⁹. The number is even higher among African-American and Hispanic youth.

Mrs. Obama has worked to put healthier foods in schools and urged young people to exercise. And she has partnered with large companies like Nike, which makes athletic¹⁰ clothing and running shoes.

Words in This Story

encourage – v. to urge or persuade

packaged – adj. put in a box or container in order to sell it or send it somewhere

repercussions¹¹ – n. effects; something usually bad or unpleasant that happens as a result of an action or statement (usually plural)

imperative – adj. very important

accessible – adj. able to be used or found

adolescent – n. a young person who is developing into an adult; a young person who is going through adolescence

1 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。

2 repercussion   

n.[常pl.](不良的)影响，反响，后果

参考例句：

• After being put out,service has received very good market repercussion.服务推出后收到了非常好的市场反响。
• The president's death had unexpected repercussion.总统的逝世引起出乎意料的反响。

3 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

4 spinach   

n.菠菜

参考例句：

• Eating spinach is supposed to make you strong.据说吃菠菜能使人强壮。
• You should eat such vegetables as carrot,celery and spinach.你应该吃胡萝卜、芹菜和菠菜这类的蔬菜。

5 broccoli   

n.绿菜花，花椰菜

参考例句：

• She grew all the broccoli plants from seed.这些花椰菜都是她用种子培育出来的。
• They think broccoli is only green and cauliflower is only white.他们认为西兰花只有绿色的，而菜花都是白色的。

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 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

8 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

9 obese   

adj.过度肥胖的，肥大的

参考例句：

• The old man is really obese,it can't be healthy.那位老人确实过于肥胖了，不能算是健康。
• Being obese and lazy is dangerous to health.又胖又懒危害健康。

10 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

11 repercussions   

n.后果，反响( repercussion的名词复数 )；余波

参考例句：

• The collapse of the company will have repercussions for the whole industry. 这家公司的垮台将会给整个行业造成间接的负面影响。
• Human acts have repercussions far beyond the frontiers of the human world. 人类行为所产生的影响远远超出人类世界的范围。 来自《简明英汉词典》