-
Passage 10
New
Farmers Need Consumers’ Support
1
If
you
want
to
disturb
the
car
industry,
you’d
better
have
a
few
billion
dollars:
Mom-and-
pop
carmakers are unlikely
to beat the biggest car companies.
2
But in agriculture, small
farmers can
get
the best
of
the major players.
3
By connecting directly with customers,
and by responding quickly to
changes in
the markets as well as in the ecosystems, small
farmers can keep one step ahead of
the
big
guys
.
4
As
the
co-founder
of
the
National
Young
Farmers
Coalition
and
a
family
farmer
myself,
I
have a
front-row seat to the innovations among small
farmers that are transforming the industry.
5
For example, take the Quick Cut Greens
Harvester, a tool developed just a couple of years
ago by a young farmer, Jonathan
Dysinger, in Tennessee, with a small
loan from a local Slow Money group.
6
It enables small-scale farmers to
harvest 175 pounds
of
green
vegetables
per
hour
—
a
huge
improvement
over
harvesting
just
a
few
dozen
pounds
by
hand
—
suddenly
making
it
possible for
the little
guys
to compete with large farms of
California.
7
Before the tool
came out
, small farmers
couldn’t touch the
price
per
pound
offered
by
California
farms.
8
But
now,
with
the
combination
of
a
better
price
point
and
a
generally
fresher
product, they can
stay in
business
.
9
The
sustainable success of small farmers, though,
won’t happen without fundamental changes to the
industry.
10
One
crucial
factor is
secure access to land
.
11
Competition from
investors, developers, and established large
farme
rs makes owning one’s own
land
unattainable
for many new farmers.
12
From 2004 to 2013, agricultural land
values doubled, and they continue to rise in
many regions.
13
Another challenge for more than a
million of the
most qualified farm
workers and managers is
a
non-existent
path
to
citizenship
—
the
greatest
barrier
to
building
a
farm
of
their
own.
14
With
farmers
over
the
age
of
65
outnumbering
farmers
younger than 35 by six to one, and with
two-
thirds of the nation’s farmland in
need of a new farmer, we mu
st clear the
path
for
talented
people willing to grow the nation’s food.
15
There are
solutions
that
could
light a path
toward a more sustainable and fair farm
economy, but farmers can’t clumsily
put
them together before us.
16
We at the NYFC need
broad
support
as we urge Congress to increase
farmland conservation, as
we push for
immigration reform, and as we seek policies that
will ensure the success of a diverse and ambitious
next generation of
farmers
from
all
backgrounds.
17
With
a
new
farm
bill
to
be
debated
in
Congress,
consumers
must
take
a
stand
with
young
farmers.
一．单词和短语
Words and
expressions
get the best of
击败；战胜
keep one step ahead of
领先一步
* co-founder
共同创立者
* coalition
/
?
k
????
l
??
n/
n.
（由两个或两个以上政党组成的）
联盟
innovation /??
n
??
ve
??
n/
n.
创新；革新
loan
/l
??
n/
n.
贷款；借款
vt.
借给
sustainable /s
??
ste
?
n
?
bl/
adj.
可持续的
established
/
??
st?bl
< br>??
t/
adj.
已设立的
;
已制定的
;
确定的；
著名的；公认的
unattainable /
?
n<
/p>
??
te
?
n<
/p>
?
bl/
adj.
无法得到的；难以达到的
non-
existent
adj.
不存在的
citizenship
/?s?
t
?
z
?
n
??
?
p/
n.
公民身份；公民资格；国籍；
公
民权
* outnumber
/a
?t
?n?
mb
?
/
vt.
数目超过；比
…
多
clumsily
/?kl?
mz
?
l
?
/
adv.
笨拙地；粗陋地
;
冒犯人地
immigration
/
?
m
??ɡre??n/
移居；移民（人数）
congress
/?k??ɡres/
n.
代表大会；议会
；
国会
push for
奋力争取
take a stand
表态；采取立场
take a
stand with
支持