VOA慢速英語(yǔ):美國(guó)農(nóng)民面孔的變化

Changing Face of the American Farmer

美國(guó)農(nóng)民面孔的變化

From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.

這里是美國(guó)之音慢速英語(yǔ)農(nóng)業(yè)報(bào)道。

Have you ever wondered what the average American farmer looks like? A new report says he is a 58-year-old white man. That information comes from the United States Census Bureau, a government agency that collects and studies information about the nation's population and economy.

你是否曾想過(guò)美國(guó)普通農(nóng)民的模樣?一份新的報(bào)告稱，他是58歲的白人男子。該信息來(lái)自美國(guó)人口普查局，這是一家政府機(jī)構(gòu)，負(fù)責(zé)收集和研究本國(guó)有關(guān)人口和經(jīng)濟(jì)的信息。

The report also says farmers 65 and older are the fastest growing population group. As these farmers retire, American agriculture will experience big changes. The report suggests what some of those changes might look like and why they might not be so bad.

該報(bào)告還表示，65歲及以上農(nóng)民是增長(zhǎng)最快的人群。隨著這些農(nóng)民退休，美國(guó)農(nóng)業(yè)將面臨巨大變化。該報(bào)告顯示了可能都有哪些變化，以及為何這些變化不會(huì)那么糟糕。

Adrienne Gibson works a small piece of land in the rolling north of Knoxville, Tennessee. She is something of a new face in American agriculture. First of all, she is a woman. And secondly, she is a minority, and she is succeeding in an industry controlled mostly by white men.

艾德麗安·吉布森(Adrienne Gibson)在田納西州的諾克斯維爾市起伏的北部種了一小片地。她是美國(guó)農(nóng)業(yè)中出現(xiàn)的新面孔。首先她是女性，其次她是少數(shù)民族。而且她在主要由白人男子控制的這一行業(yè)取得了成功。

But the Census Bureau report suggests that may be changing. The number of minority farmers working American soil is growing, and fast. The report also suggests that U.S. farms are getting smaller.

但美國(guó)人口普查局的報(bào)告表明，這一切可能會(huì)改變。少數(shù)民族農(nóng)民種地的數(shù)量正在不斷快速增長(zhǎng)。該報(bào)告還表明，美國(guó)農(nóng)場(chǎng)越來(lái)越小。

Adrienne Gibson earns money by using a Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, model of farming. As a CSA farmer, she raises food for a handful of buyers who agree to pay her before her crops are ready.

吉布森采用社區(qū)支持農(nóng)業(yè)(簡(jiǎn)稱CSA)這種耕種模式賺錢。作為一位社區(qū)支持農(nóng)業(yè)的農(nóng)民，她為少數(shù)買家提供食物，這些買家同意在作物收獲前給她付款。

"We have 23 CSA customers. They subscribe to supporting the farm, and in return they get a weekly basket of vegetables from May through October," said Gibson.

吉布森說(shuō)，“我們有23家社區(qū)支持農(nóng)業(yè)的客戶。他們同意支持農(nóng)場(chǎng)。作為回報(bào)，他們從5月到10月每周都能得到一籃子蔬菜。”

Nate Phillips teaches farming at Middle Tennessee State University. He says smaller farms are partly a reaction to changes in the way Americans think about their food.

內(nèi)特·菲利普斯(Nate Phillips)在中田納西州州立大學(xué)教授農(nóng)業(yè)。他說(shuō)小型農(nóng)場(chǎng)部分是應(yīng)對(duì)美國(guó)人對(duì)食物看法的改變。

"There's growing interest in where our food is coming from, what is the food quality, things like that. I think we'll continue to see that increase," said Phillips.

菲利普斯說(shuō)，“人們對(duì)食物來(lái)自何處，質(zhì)量如何等越來(lái)越感興趣。我認(rèn)為我們將會(huì)繼續(xù)看到這種增長(zhǎng)。”

This movement is often called farm to table, it means that more Americans are starting to buy food that is grown locally. And they want to know exactly where their food is coming from. Nate Phillips adds that more younger people are entering farming because of this trend.

這種運(yùn)動(dòng)通常被稱為從農(nóng)場(chǎng)到餐桌。它意味著越來(lái)越多美國(guó)人開(kāi)始購(gòu)買當(dāng)?shù)胤N植的食物。他們想確切知道食物來(lái)自哪里。菲利普斯補(bǔ)充說(shuō)，由于這種趨勢(shì)，越多越多年輕人進(jìn)入農(nóng)業(yè)。

"I'm seeing a lot more students from Nashville, or the cities, that are coming in that didn't grow up around agriculture, weren't from an agricultural background, but had that interest," Phillips said.

菲利普薩說(shuō)，“我看到很多來(lái)自納什維爾市或一些城市的學(xué)生進(jìn)入農(nóng)業(yè)，他們并不是在農(nóng)業(yè)環(huán)境中長(zhǎng)大，也不具備農(nóng)業(yè)背景，但卻擁有這樣的興趣。”

Nate Phillips thinks it is good that the people who grow food are beginning to look more like the people who eat it.

菲利普薩認(rèn)為，糧食種植者和食用者開(kāi)始趨于同化是件好事。

"It reflects our general society. It reflects what our communities are like around us, and I think that's a great thing for agriculture," Phillips said.

菲利普斯說(shuō)，“這反映出了我們的大眾社會(huì)，也反映出了我們身邊的社區(qū)。我認(rèn)為這對(duì)農(nóng)業(yè)來(lái)說(shuō)是件大好事。”

And that's the Agriculture Report, I'm Anna Matteo.

以上就是本期農(nóng)業(yè)報(bào)道的全部?jī)?nèi)容，我是安娜·馬特奧(Anna Matteo)。