为什么肉类是世界上最好也最坏的东西 🍔：英语精读讲义

Humans love meat.

人类热爱肉食。

Steak, fried chicken, bacon,

牛排、炸鸡、培根、

pork belly, and sausages are just the best things.

五花肉和香肠简直是人间美味。

Eating meat has become so trivial

吃肉已经变得如此稀松平常，

that many people don't consider something a proper meal 語法

以至于许多人觉得，

if there's no animal involved,

如果没有肉，就不算一顿像样的饭菜，

which is pretty amazing

这其实挺不可思议的，

since only a few decades ago

因为就在几十年前，

meat was a luxury product.

肉还是一种奢侈品。

Today, you can get a cheeseburger for a dollar.

而如今，你花一美元就能买到一个芝士汉堡。

Paradoxically,

矛盾的是，

meat is pretty much the most inefficient way of feeding humans.

肉类实际上是养活人类效率最低的方式。

If we look at it on a global scale, 短語搭配

如果我们从全球范围来看，

our meaty diet is literally eating up the planet. 習語

我们的肉食饮食确实在吞噬整个地球。

Why is that?

为什么会这样？

And what can we do about it without giving up steak? 短語動詞

在不放弃牛排的前提下，我们又能做些什么？

Humans keep a lot of animals for food.

人类为了获取食物饲养了大量动物。

Currently, about 23 billion chickens,

目前，大约有230亿只鸡，

1.5 billion cattle,

15亿头牛，

and roughly 1 billion pigs and sheep.

以及大约10亿头猪和羊。

That's a lot of mouths to feed, 習語

有这么多张嘴要喂，

so we've transformed Earth into a giant feeding ground.

所以我们把地球变成了一个巨大的饲养场。

83% of its farmland is used for livestock,

其中83%的农田被用于畜牧业，

for example,

例如，

as pasture and to farm fodder crops like corn and soy.

用作牧场以及种植玉米和大豆等饲料作物。

That's 26% of Earth's total land area.

这占了地球陆地总面积的26%。

If we include the water we need for these plants,

如果算上这些植物所需的水，

meat and dairy production accounts for 27% of global fresh water consumption. 短語搭配

肉类和奶制品生产占全球淡水消耗量的27%。

Unfortunately,

不幸的是，

meat production is like a black hole for resources. 習語

肉类生产就像是一个资源黑洞。

Since animals are living things,

因为动物是生命体，

most of their food is used to keep them alive

它们的大部分食物都用于维持生命，

while they grow their tasty parts.

同时才能长出美味的部位。

Only a fraction of the nutrients

只有一小部分的营养物质，

from fodder crops end up in the meat 短語動詞

从饲料作物最终转化成我们购买的

we buy in the end.

肉类。

Cows, for example,

例如，牛

convert only about 4% of the proteins

只能转化大约4%的蛋白质

and 3% of the calories

和3%的卡路里

of the plants we feed to them

从我们喂食的植物中

into beef.

变成牛肉。

More than 97% of the calories are lost to us.

超过97%的卡路里对我们而言白白流失了。

To create 1 kg of steak,

为了生产1公斤牛排，

a cow needs to eat up to 25 kilos of grain

一头牛需要吃掉多达25公斤的谷物，

and uses up to 15,000 L of water.

消耗多达15000升的水。

Animal products are guzzling up tons of food, 習語

动物产品正在大量吞噬食物，

but they only make up 18% of the calories humans eat. 短語動詞

但它们仅占人类摄入卡路里的18%。

According to projections, 短語搭配

根据预测，

we could nourish an additional 3.5 billion people

我们还能多养活35亿人，

if we just ate the stuff we feed to animals.

如果我们直接吃喂给动物的那些食物的话。

To make our favorite food group even more unsustainable,

让这种我们最爱的食物更不可持续的是，

about 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans

在人类活动产生的所有温室气体排放中，约有15%

are created by the meat industry,

是由肉类工业造成的，

as much as by all ships, 語法

这与所有船只、

planes, trucks, and cars combined.

飞机、卡车和汽车加起来的总量相当。

And there's another aspect to meat.

关于肉类，还有另一个问题。

It comes from actual living beings.

它来自于活生生的生命。

Pigs, cattle, and chickens

猪、牛和鸡

are not the ones writing the history books, 習語

并不是书写历史书的群体，

but if they were, 語法

但如果它们能写，

humans would appear as rampant genocidal maniacs

人类就会被描绘成猖獗的种族灭绝狂人，

that thrive on suffering. 短語搭配

靠着制造痛苦而繁荣。

Globally,

在全球范围内，

we kill about 200 million animals every day,

我们每天要杀掉大约2亿只动物，

about 74 billion a year.

每年大约740亿只。

This means that every 1 and 1/2 years,

这意味着每隔一年半的时间，

we kill more animals than people have lived

我们杀掉的动物数量，就超过了

in the entire 200,000-year history of humanity.

人类20万年历史中所有生存过的人口总数。

One could argue that we're doing them a favor. 短語搭配

有人可能会争辩说，我们是在帮它们的忙。

After all, 表達脈絡

毕竟，

they wouldn't exist without us.

如果没有我们，它们根本不会存在。

We might eat them in the end,

虽然我们最终可能会吃掉它们，

but we also provide food and shelter

但我们也为它们提供了食物和庇护所，

and the gift of existence to them.

并赋予了它们生命。

Unfortunately,

不幸的是，

we're not very nice gods.

我们不是什么仁慈的上帝。

A lot of our meat comes from factory farms, 用詞

我们吃到的大量肉类来自于工厂化养殖场，

huge industrial systems that house thousands of animals.

那些容纳着成千上万只动物的巨大工业系统。

Engineered to be as efficient as possible,

为了实现效率最大化，

they have little regard for things like quality of life. 短語搭配

这些系统几乎不顾及动物的生活质量。

Most pigs are raised in gigantic windowless sheds

多数猪被饲养在巨大的无窗棚圈里，

and never get to see the sun.

终其一生都见不到阳光。

Sows are kept in pens too small to turn around, 語法

母猪被关在狭窄到无法转身的猪栏里，

where they give birth to one litter of piglets after another 短語搭配

它们在那里生下一窝又一窝的小猪，

until it's their turn to be turned into bacon. 習語

直到轮到自己被做成培根。

Dairy cows are forced to breed continually

奶牛被迫不断繁殖，

to ensure their milk supply,

以保证产奶量，

but are separated from their calves hours after birth.

但在分娩数小时后就会被迫与小牛分离。

To fatten up beef cattle for slaughter, 短語動詞

为了让肉牛长胖以便屠宰，

they're put in feedlots,

它们被关进饲养场，

confined pens where they can't roam

在无法走动的狭窄围栏里，

and put on weight more quickly. 短語動詞

从而更快地长肉。

To make it possible to keep them so tightly together

为了让它们如此密集地聚集在一起，

without dying of diseases,

又不至于死于疾病，

the majority of antibiotics we use are for livestock,

我们使用的绝大多数抗生素都喂给了牲畜，

up to 80% in the US,

在美国这个比例高达80%，

which helps in the short term, 短語搭配

这在短期内确实有效，

but also fuels antibiotic resistances.

但同时也助长了抗生素耐药性。

But the ones that may have got the worst deal are chickens. 習語

但处境最糟糕的可能是鸡。

In factory farms,

在工厂化养殖场，

they're kept in such vast numbers and so close to each other 語法

它们的数量如此庞大且彼此间距极小，

that they can't form the social structures they have in nature,

以至于它们无法形成自然界中的社会结构，

so they start attacking each other.

于是它们开始互相攻击。

To stop that,

为了阻止这种情况，

we cut their beaks and claws.

我们剪掉它们的喙和爪子。

Male chickens are deemed worthless 用詞

公鸡被认为毫无价值，

since they can't lay eggs and are not suitable for meat production,

因为它们不能下蛋，也不适合产肉，

so within minutes after birth,

所以在出生后的几分钟内，

they're usually gassed and shredded in grinders.

它们通常会被毒气毒死并用研磨机绞碎。

Several hundred million baby chickens are killed this way each year.

每年有数亿只小鸡被以这种方式杀害。

Even if you had a personal score to settle with chickens, 習語

就算你和鸡有个人恩怨，

how we treat them is beyond broken.

我们对待它们的方式也过于离谱了。

So,

所以，

better buy organic meat,

最好买有机肉类，

where animals are treated nicely, right?

那里的动物能得到善待，对吧？

Organic farming regulations are designed to grant animals a minimum of comfort.

有机农业法规的初衷是为了保证动物能享有最低限度的舒适。

The problem is that organic is an elastic term. 習語

问题在于，有机是个灵活的词。

According to EU regulations,

根据欧盟的规定，

an organic hen still might share 1 square meter of space with five others.

一只有机母鸡仍可能和另外五只鸡共享1平方米的空间。

That's a long way off from happy farmyard chickens. 短語搭配

这与农家大院里快乐的鸡相比差得很远。

Farms that sincerely do their best do exist, 語法

当然，那些真正在竭尽全力的农场确实存在。

of course.

当然。

But meat is still a business.

但肉类归根结底是一门生意。

An organic label is a way to charge more money,

有机标签是一种收费更高的借口，

and countless scandals have revealed producers looking for ways to cheat the system. 習語

无数丑闻揭示了生产商寻找系统漏洞进行作弊的行为。

And while organic meat might be less cruel,

虽然有机肉可能没那么残忍，

it needs even more resources than conventional meat production.

但它比传统肉类生产需要更多的资源。

So,

所以，

buying organic is still preferable,

购买有机肉类仍然是更好的选择，

but does not grant you moral absolution. 用詞

但这并不能赋予你道德上的免责。

The truth is,

事实是，

if suffering were a resource, 表達脈絡

如果痛苦是一种资源，

we would create billions of tons of it per year.

我们每年将创造出数十亿吨的资源。

The way we treat animals

我们对待动物的方式

will probably be one of the things future generations will look down on in disgust. 短語動詞

可能会成为未来世代鄙夷厌恶的事情之一。

While all these things are true, 表達脈絡

虽然所有这些都是事实，

something else is true, too.

但另一件事也是事实。

Steak is amazing.

牛排太棒了。

Burgers are the best food.

汉堡是最好的食物。

Chicken wings taste great.

鸡翅味道好极了。

Meat satisfies something buried deep in our lizard brain. 習語

肉类满足了深藏在我们爬虫脑中的某种本能。

We hardly ever see how our meat is made.

我们几乎看不到肉是如何被制造出来的。

We just eat it and love it.

我们只是吃它并且喜欢它。

It creates joy.

它能带来快乐。

It brings us together for family meals and barbecue parties. 短語動詞

它是家人聚餐和烧烤派对的纽带。

Eating meat doesn't make you a bad person. 表達脈絡

吃肉并不会让你变成坏人。

Not eating meat doesn't make you a good one.

不吃肉也不会让你变成好人。

Life is complicated,

生活是复杂的，

and so is the world we've created. 語法

我们创造的世界同样如此。

So,

那么，

how should we deal with the fact that meat is extremely unsustainable 短語搭配

面对肉食极不可持续

and a sort of horrible torture?

并且是可怕折磨的这种事实，我们该怎么办？

For now,

目前来说，

the easiest option is opting out more often. 短語動詞

最简单的办法就是多尝试少吃肉。

Taking a meat-free day per week already makes a difference.

每周有一天不吃肉就已经能带来改变了。

If you want to eat meat produced with less suffering,

如果你想吃那些产生的痛苦更少的肉类，

try to buy from trusted producers with a good track record, 短語搭配

尽量向信誉良好且值得信赖的生产商购买，

even if it costs more. 語法

哪怕价格更贵一点。

To make an impact on the environment,

为了对环境产生积极影响，

go for chicken and pig rather than lamb and beef, 短語搭配

选择鸡肉和猪肉，而不是羊肉和牛肉，

as they convert their feed more efficiently into meat.

因为它们能将饲料更高效地转化为肉类。

And if you're going to have your steak, 習語

如果你打算享用牛排，

you should eat it, too.

你就应该把它全吃完。

An average American throws out nearly a pound of food per day, 短語動詞

一个普通的美国人每天扔掉近一磅食物，

a lot of which is meat. 語法

其中很多都是肉。

In the future,

在未来，

science could get us clean meat. 用詞

科学或许能为我们带来清洁肉。

Various startups have successfully grown meat in labs

各种初创公司已经成功在实验室里培育出肉类，

and are working on doing so on a commercial scale. 短語搭配

并且正在努力实现商业化量产。

But solutions like this are still a few years away. 短語搭配

但是像这样的解决方案还需要几年的时间。

For now,

现阶段，

enjoy your steak,

尽情享用你的牛排，

but also respect it.

但也要尊重它。

And if you can,

如果可以的话，

make it something special again.

让它再次成为一种特殊的享受。