評論
打印
Britain The horse-meat scandal
英國 馬肉風波
And the winner is
誰是贏家？
What horse-shy consumers are eating instead
不吃馬肉的消費者他們還可以吃什么？
On the face of it, local butchers and vegetarianism have little in common. But—upholding the principle that every crisis helps someone—both have been buoyed by the recent discovery, in Britain and elsewhere, of horse meat in dishes supposedly made of beef.
乍看起來，當?shù)氐耐婪蚝退厥持髁x者之間沒有什么共通之處。但是，——根據(jù)“每次危機發(fā)生都會有人受益”的原則看來——最近的一項調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)對屠夫和素食主義者都十分有益。即在英國及其他一些地區(qū)發(fā)現(xiàn)餐盤里的肉類是馬肉而不是應(yīng)當出現(xiàn)的牛肉。
A poll by ComRes, a market-research agency, showed that 7% of respondents had stopped eating meat altogether as a result of the equine scandal. Another survey by Consumer Intelligence, a research firm, found that 6% knew someone who had become vegetarian in reaction to the reports. Holland and Barrett, a health-food chain, reported increased sales in its soya and tofu lines in early February. A meat-free Sunday roast was particularly popular, with sales up by 50%, while vegetarian meatballs had jumped by 30%.
由一家市場調(diào)查機構(gòu)ComRes進行的民意調(diào)查顯示，由于馬肉風波，有7%的調(diào)查對象表示他們已經(jīng)連肉都不吃了。由另一家調(diào)查公司Customer Intelligence進行的一項調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，面對馬肉風波的報道，有6%的調(diào)查對象表示他們了解到有人因此而變成了素食主義者。一家健康食品連鎖店Holland Barrett報道稱，自本月初始，豆類制品的銷量有大幅提升。一種無肉的周末燒烤最近特別流行，其消費量增長了50%，同時素肉丸的銷量也上升了30%。
But other consumers are buying better meat, rather than giving it up. The National Federation of Meat and Food Traders reports a 15% increase in sales at independent butchers—which often specify the source of their meat, and butcher it on site. Sales of beef burgers and mince have leapt 30%. “Health scares are always good for us,” says Brindon Addy, owner of a shop inYorkshireand chairman of the Q Guild, an organisation of 120 local butchers.
但有其他的消費者正在購買了一些更高品質(zhì)的肉類，而不是放棄吃肉。英國肉類及食品貿(mào)易聯(lián)盟（The National Federation of Meat and Food Traders）報道稱，傳統(tǒng)肉鋪的銷售量上升了15%，商鋪里的屠夫通常會詳細說明肉類的來源，并且當場屠宰。牛肉漢堡和牛肉餅的銷售量攀升了30%。一位約克郡的店主，同時也是Q協(xié)會（一個由120位當?shù)赝婪驑?gòu)成的組織）主席的布雷頓·艾迪（Brindon Addy）表示，“對健康問題產(chǎn)生恐慌通常是對我們有益的。”
The other thing that veggies and artisan butchers have in common is their rarity. The Vegetarian Society estimates that only 2% of Britons are stringent non-meat-eaters (a figure that is set to quadruple if the recent trend proves lasting). For their part, independent butchers are increasingly scarce on the high street: their numbers have fallen by 57% since 1990, to just over 6,000 nationwide. But whether the boost to either will endure after the horse furore recedes is doubtful. Recalling his customers’ attitudes after the “mad cow disease” outbreak 17 years ago, Mr Addy gloomily observes that, “after three months, they slope back to supermarkets.”
另一個素食主義者和傳統(tǒng)屠夫間有共同點的地方就是他們都很稀有?！端厥痴邊f(xié)會》雜志估算過，只有2%的英國人是嚴格意義上的不食肉者。（假如最近的趨勢得以延續(xù)，這個數(shù)據(jù)將會翻4倍）。站在傳統(tǒng)屠夫的角度來看，他們越來越害怕走向高端市場：自1990年開始，傳統(tǒng)肉鋪的數(shù)量下降了57%，全國肉鋪數(shù)量也只是剛過6000家。但是，在馬肉風波引起的公憤平息之后，這種傳統(tǒng)屠宰店的熱潮是否能夠持續(xù)下去，仍難下定論。在“瘋牛病”事件爆發(fā)的17年后，這次危機再次喚回了消費者對傳統(tǒng)屠宰店的關(guān)注，但艾迪仍沮喪地表示“三個月后，消費者又將回到超市購物?！狈g：沈曉
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