VOA慢速英語(yǔ):Social Media Helps Farmers Avoid Food Waste

12 August, 2013

From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.

On World Environment Day in June, the United Nations reported at least one third of all food produced is wasted. The report came at a time when many people are concerned about how to feed a growing world population.

In the United States, Farmers who are struggling to earn money find the situation difficult to deal with. The United States Department of Agriculture found that more than half of the small farms in California do not make a profit.

One California farm family is using social media in an effort to change the situation and reduce wasted food. Nick Papadopoulos is general manager of Bloomfield Farms in . It was difficult for him to watch his employees returning from several weekend farmer's markets with top quality unsold produce.

Mr Papadopoulos said he would find boxes of leafy greens, herbs and carrots left in a storage yard. The vegetables would go bad before the next market day. As a result, Mr Papadopoulos came up with a plan to offer the food at a low price by advertising it on the farm's Facebook status page on Sunday nights.

The deals were open to anyone using the social media website. One week, several homeowners in a neighboring community bought the vegetables. Another week, the buyers were a group of friends.

Nick Papadopoulos began using social media after he went to work on a farm belonging to his wife's father. One night, he began thinking about the issue of wasted food, when he could not find a place to donate 32 cases of organic broccoli. He ended up giving some of the food to chickens and using the rest to make fertilizer.

"I don't believe we should let it go to waste, I believe we should share it, donate it, whatever it takes. And if possible, as farmers, we would like to recover a small portion of our costs."

After his success using Facebook, Mr Papadopoulos helped to set up a website called cropmobster.com, it is a place where people involved with food production, feeding the hungry. And those who want to buy locally grow food can find surplus produce.

Since March, The website has prevented more than 20,000 kilograms of food from going to waste.

Have you ever use the Internet to buy or sell crops? If so, tell us about your experience. You can leave a message on our Facebook page or visit our website 51voa.com.

And that's the Agriculture Report from VOA Learning English, I'm Karen Leggett.

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。

On World Environment Day in June, the United Nations reported at least one third of all food produced is wasted. The report came at a time when many people are concerned about how to feed a growing world population.

聯(lián)合國(guó)在6月的世界環(huán)境日?qǐng)?bào)告聲稱生產(chǎn)出來(lái)的食物至少有三分之一被浪費(fèi)。報(bào)告出臺(tái)之際正值許多人都在關(guān)注如何養(yǎng)活日益增長(zhǎng)的世界人口。

In the United States, Farmers who are struggling to earn money find the situation difficult to deal with. The United States Department of Agriculture found that more than half of the small farms in California do not make a profit.

在美國(guó)，竭力賺錢(qián)的農(nóng)民發(fā)現(xiàn)這一情況很難處理。美國(guó)農(nóng)業(yè)部發(fā)現(xiàn)，加利福尼亞州一半以上的小型農(nóng)場(chǎng)賺不到錢(qián)。

One California farm family is using social media in an effort to change the situation and reduce wasted food. Nick Papadopoulos is general manager of Bloomfield Farms in Sonoma County. It was difficult for him to watch his employees returning from several weekend farmer's markets with top quality unsold produce.

加利福尼亞州一個(gè)農(nóng)場(chǎng)家庭正使用社交媒體，以試圖改變這一狀況并減少食品浪費(fèi)。尼克·帕帕多普洛斯是索諾瑪縣布盧姆菲爾德農(nóng)場(chǎng)的總經(jīng)理?？吹絾T工從幾個(gè)周末農(nóng)貿(mào)市場(chǎng)帶回未售出的高品質(zhì)農(nóng)產(chǎn)品，他就頭疼。

Mr Papadopoulos said he would find boxes of leafy greens, herbs and carrots left in a storage yard. The vegetables would go bad before the next market day. As a result, Mr Papadopoulos came up with a plan to offer the food at a low price by advertising it on the farm's Facebook status page on Sunday nights.

帕帕多普洛斯表示，在堆貨場(chǎng)他會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)有成箱的綠葉蔬菜、香草和胡蘿卜被剩下。這些蔬菜到下個(gè)農(nóng)貿(mào)市場(chǎng)交易日前會(huì)壞掉。帕帕多普洛斯想出了一個(gè)方案，通過(guò)周日晚上在農(nóng)場(chǎng)的Facebook狀態(tài)頁(yè)面做廣告，把這些食物以低價(jià)賣(mài)出。

The deals were open to anyone using the social media website. One week, several homeowners in a neighboring community bought the vegetables. Another week, the buyers were a group of friends.

該交易向所有社交媒體的用戶開(kāi)放。有一個(gè)星期，幾個(gè)鄰近社區(qū)的房主買(mǎi)走了這些蔬菜。另一個(gè)星期，買(mǎi)家是一群朋友。

Nick Papadopoulos began using social media after he went to work on a farm belonging to his wife's father. One night, he began thinking about the issue of wasted food, when he could not find a place to donate 32 cases of organic broccoli. He ended up giving some of the food to chickens and using the rest to make fertilizer.

帕帕多普洛斯到他岳父農(nóng)場(chǎng)工作后開(kāi)始使用社交媒體。某晚，在他找不到地方捐出32箱有機(jī)西蘭花時(shí)，他開(kāi)始思考食品浪費(fèi)的問(wèn)題。最終他將一些食品喂雞，剩下的做了肥料。

"I don't believe we should let it go to waste, I believe we should share it, donate it, whatever it takes. And if possible, as farmers, we would like to recover a small portion of our costs."

他說(shuō)，“我認(rèn)為不應(yīng)該讓它們浪費(fèi)掉，而應(yīng)該分享出來(lái)，捐出來(lái)。如果有可能，作為農(nóng)民，我們希望能收回一部分成本。”

After his success using Facebook, Mr Papadopoulos helped to set up a website called cropmobster.com, it is a place where people involved with food production, feeding the hungry. And those who want to buy locally grow food can find surplus produce.

在他成功使用Facebook后，帕帕多普洛斯幫助建立了一個(gè)名為cropmobster.com的網(wǎng)站。在這里，人們參與食品生產(chǎn)，幫助食不果腹之人。想購(gòu)買(mǎi)本地生長(zhǎng)的食品可以在這里找到剩下的農(nóng)產(chǎn)品。

Since March, the website has prevented more than 20,000 kilograms of food from going to waste.

三月份以來(lái)，該網(wǎng)站已經(jīng)防止了2萬(wàn)多公斤食品被浪費(fèi)掉。