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http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20070124/NEWS01/701240708 Passage 7 (模块八) 阅读导引 一提到农业,人们会想到菜篮中的蔬菜和肉制品。这些蔬菜和肉制品来自哪里呢?是来自本地还是来自其它的特大型农场?读了以下这篇文章,你可以了解美国农业的一种新趋势,以及这种趋势给人们生活带来的变化。
阅读欣赏 Fresh from a Farm Farming wasn't exactly a profession likely to be successful when Linda Neunzig started Ninety Farms near Arlington about 12 years ago. Today Linda's 52-acre farm, like most, isn't making enough for her to raise her family. So why then is Linda more optimistic than ever? She can tell you in one word: local. “People want local food, and they're willing to pay for the freshness, the taste, the quality,” Linda said of her locally grown vegetables and meat sold primarily to area restaurants. “They're buying more and more local.” All kinds of factors are driving the buy-local view, said Mary Embleton, executive director of the Cascade Harvest Coalition, which represents about 250 farm members. “Certainly health and nutrition,” Mary said, “We know whole fruits and vegetables are better than processed ones in general.” Frustration with large-scale farming in recent years, including incidents involving E. coli and animal diseases such as mad cow, have pushed consumers to explore their local food supply. The distance food travels, called food miles, and the fuels used are other factors. “People are concerned with protecting the environment and air quality,” Mary said. “Having a healthy farm division adds to environmental quality.” Government leaders have been watching the buy-local trend take shape too. Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon has made financial success for farmers and, in turn, farmland preservation, which has been considered most important during the past three years. He hired longtime county employee John Roney to fill a new agricultural coordinator position so the county would have a full-time contact with farmers. He also started Focus on Farming conferences to connect with farmers. Linda, in addition to running her farm with some outside help, is joining the county effort too, working full time as a project coordinator. Other groups are also working with farmers, including the Northwest Agriculture Business Center, formed in 2005 to serve five counties. The Haggen grocery-store chain has worked with the center to help farmers sell&nb
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