VOA标准英语2015--美国政府专家称在饮食中考虑环境问题

US Government Panel Says Consider Environment in Diet 美国政府专家称在饮食中考虑环境问题

An advisory¹ panel to the United States Department of Agriculture is recommending for the first time that Americans consider the environment when making healthy food choices.  

Every five years, USDA issues Dietary Guidelines for Americans, based on updated nutritional² science. The aim is to curb³ obesity⁴ and chronic⁵ disease with a diet higher in fruits and vegetables and lower in animal-based foods.  

The recommendations affect school lunches and federal programs for the elderly, women and children says Janet Riley, senior vice⁶ president at the North American Meat Institute - a trade association for the meat and poultry⁷ industry.

“And these are some of our most vulnerable populations who need the protein and the vitamins and minerals that are in meat and poultry," she said.

The 571-page advisory report is open for public review. Among its most controversial points is a single mention that links healthy food choices to environmental sustainability.

Riley says this is beyond the scope of the committee’s charter. “They were told specifically to focus on nutrition. When they formed a subcommittee on sustainability, the House [of Representatives] appropriators included language in the budget bill that said, ‘Stick to nutrition. Do not stray into the environment.’”

But that detour⁸ is good for the public and the planet according to Janet Larsen, research director for the Earth Policy Institute, an environmental policy group.

Differing views

“Meat production is very carbon intensive," Larson said. "It releases greenhouse gases that are warming the planet. And so, if you are concerned about climate change, you realize that you need to start eating lower on the food chain to reduce your overall carbon footprint.”

Livestock⁹ also requires a lot of land, feed and water, which puts additional stress on the environment.

But placing environmental recommendations in diet guidelines sends a poor and oversimplified message about food, according to Riley.

“To suggest that somehow eating less meat is going to have this huge impact on the environment, we need more data. We need a panel of experts in that field to take a look at it and come up with real definitive¹⁰ recommendations if we want to go there," she said.

"We can’t have nutritionists trying to delve¹¹ into a field where they really don’t have the expertise¹² to make these kinds of recommendations,"  Riley added.

At a time when meat consumption is down or flat in the United States, the opposite is true in developing countries.  

“Our health has suffered and our environment has suffered when we had really high meat consumption,” Larson said.  “So many people around the world are trying to emulate¹³ the American diet and it’s important for people to know that our diet is shifting.”

Larsen said high meat consumption is unsustainable. “If everyone on the planet ate meat three meals a day, like many Americans, the Earth could only support two billion people.”  

China’s growing appetite

She points to China, whose appetite for meat is growing. “That is likely to mean that they will be importing more grain and more soy, especially from world markets. That will have an effect on food prices everywhere and more people will end up hungry,” Larsen said.

Larsen hopes the final version of the USDA dietary guidelines provides an incentive¹⁴ for healthier eating habits overall.

“I think that it is really important not to export the meat-heavy American diet, but export messages of health and wellness and environmental sustainability, and show people that we realize that we have overshot and now we have to move down the food chain and eat less meat,” she said.

After a period of public comment the USDA will issue its final dietary guidelines aimed at Americans age two years and older.

1 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

2 nutritional   

adj.营养的，滋养的

参考例句：

• A diet lacking in nutritional value will not keep a person healthy.缺乏营养价值的饮食不能维持人的健康。
• The labels on food products give a lot of information about their nutritional content.食品上的标签提供很多关于营养成分的信息。

3 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

4 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。

5 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

6 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

7 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

8 detour   

n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道

参考例句：

• We made a detour to avoid the heavy traffic.我们绕道走，避开繁忙的交通。
• He did not take the direct route to his home,but made a detour around the outskirts of the city.他没有直接回家，而是绕到市郊兜了个圈子。

9 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

10 definitive   

adj.确切的，权威性的；最后的，决定性的

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• No one has come up with a definitive answer as to why this should be so.至于为什么该这样，还没有人给出明确的答复。

11 delve   

v.深入探究，钻研

参考例句：

• We should not delve too deeply into this painful matter.我们不应该过分深究这件痛苦的事。
• We need to delve more deeply into these questions.这些是我们想进一步了解的。

12 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

13 emulate   

v.努力赶上或超越，与…竞争；效仿

参考例句：

• You must work hard to emulate your sister.你必须努力工作，赶上你姐姐。
• You must look at the film and try to emulate his behavior.你们必须观看这部电影，并尽力模仿他的动作。

14 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。