人造肉越來(lái)越火，但背后的金錢交易可能大過(guò)健康意義

素食肉的風(fēng)潮如今越來(lái)越火，各大餐飲品牌也紛紛推出素食肉的產(chǎn)品。

這當(dāng)然得到了素食主義者的廣泛叫好，也掀起了新的素食熱。

但是，你真的了解素食這一生活方式在營(yíng)養(yǎng)方面的利與弊嗎？你又是否知道，像這樣的飲食變革，其實(shí)往往是金錢推動(dòng)的政治活動(dòng)呢？

圖片來(lái)源：圖蟲創(chuàng)意

If?you were to believe newspapers and dietary advice leaflets, you’d probably think that doctors and nutritionists are the people guiding us through the thicket of what to believe when it comes to food. But food trends are far more political—and economically motivated—than it seems.

如果你相信報(bào)紙和飲食推薦的傳單，你可能會(huì)認(rèn)為，關(guān)于飲食，我們應(yīng)該相信醫(yī)生和營(yíng)養(yǎng)學(xué)家們的指導(dǎo)。但是，飲食潮流比表面看上去更具政治性，也更有經(jīng)濟(jì)推動(dòng)力。

From ancient Rome, where Cura Annonae—the provision of bread to the citizens—was the central measure of good government, to 18th-century Britain, where the econo mist Adam Smith identified a link between wages and the price of corn, food has been at the centre of the economy. Politicians have long had their eye on food policy as a way to shape society.

從古羅馬時(shí)期起，是否能為市民提供面包（Cura Annonae）就是衡量一個(gè)國(guó)家是否有健全政府的核心標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，到18世紀(jì)，英國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家亞當(dāng)?斯密發(fā)現(xiàn)了工資和玉米價(jià)格之間的聯(lián)系，食物就成為經(jīng)濟(jì)的中心。長(zhǎng)期以來(lái)，政客們一直將制定糧食政策視為塑造社會(huì)的一種方式。

That’s why tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and grain were enforced in Britain between 1815 and 1846. These “corn laws” enhanced the profits and political power of the landowners, at the cost of raising food prices and hampering growth in other economic sectors.

這就是英國(guó)于1815年至1846年間對(duì)進(jìn)口食品和谷物征收關(guān)稅并實(shí)施其他貿(mào)易限制的原因。這些“谷物法”提高了土地所有者的利潤(rùn)和政治權(quán)力，代價(jià)是提高了糧食價(jià)格，也阻礙了其他經(jīng)濟(jì)部門的增長(zhǎng)。

Many of today’s food debates can also be usefully reinterpreted when seen as part of a wider economic picture. For example, recent years have seen the co-option of the vegetarian movement in a political program that can have the effect of perversely disadvantaging small-scale, traditional farming in favor of large-scale industrial farming.

如今，許多關(guān)于食品的討論可以被有效地進(jìn)行重新解讀，而被視為更廣泛的經(jīng)濟(jì)形勢(shì)的一部分。例如，近年來(lái)，政治項(xiàng)目對(duì)素食運(yùn)動(dòng)的增選有利于發(fā)展大規(guī)模工業(yè)化農(nóng)業(yè)，但卻不利于小規(guī)模的傳統(tǒng)農(nóng)業(yè)。

This is part of a wider trend away from small and mid-size producers towards industrial-scale farming and a global food market in which food is manufactured from cheap ingredients bought in a global bulk commodities market that is subject to fierce competition. Consider the launch of a whole new range of laboratory created “fake meats” (fake dairy, fake eggs) in the U.S. and Europe, oft celebrated for aiding the rise of the vegan movement. Such trends entrench the shift of political power away from traditional farms and local markets towards biotech companies and multinationals.

由于激烈的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)，全球食品市場(chǎng)上的食品都是用從全球大宗商品市場(chǎng)上購(gòu)買的廉價(jià)原料生產(chǎn)的，因此從中小型生產(chǎn)商轉(zhuǎn)向大規(guī)模工業(yè)化農(nóng)業(yè)已成為大趨勢(shì)的一部分。美國(guó)和歐洲的實(shí)驗(yàn)室推出的一系列全新的“人造肉”（人造奶制品、人造雞蛋）常常因促進(jìn)素食運(yùn)動(dòng)的興起而聞名。這種趨勢(shì)使政治勢(shì)力從傳統(tǒng)農(nóng)場(chǎng)和當(dāng)?shù)厥袌?chǎng)向生物技術(shù)公司和跨國(guó)公司傾斜。

Estimates for the global vegan food market now expect it to grow each year by nearly 10% and to reach around $24.3 billion by 2026. Figures like this have encouraged the megaliths of the agricultural industry to step in, having realised that the “plant-based” lifestyle generates large profit margins, adding value to cheap raw materials (such as protein extracts, starches, and oils) through ultra-processing. Unilever is particularly active, offering nearly 700 vegan products in Europe.

據(jù)估計(jì)，全球素食市場(chǎng)每年的增長(zhǎng)率有望達(dá)到近10%，到2026年其市值有望達(dá)到約243億美元。這樣的數(shù)據(jù)使農(nóng)業(yè)大亨們意識(shí)到可以通過(guò)高度加工使廉價(jià)的原材料（如蛋白質(zhì)提取物、淀粉和油類）增值，而且“以植物為基礎(chǔ)的”生活方式有巨大的利潤(rùn)空間，從而促使他們介入該市場(chǎng)。聯(lián)合利華在該市場(chǎng)上尤其活躍，目前在歐洲可以提供近700種素食產(chǎn)品。

多知道一點(diǎn)

vegan movement

素食運(yùn)動(dòng)，是素食者推廣的一種全新生活方式。

對(duì)很多人來(lái)說(shuō)，素食是一種健康的生活方式。在傳統(tǒng)的素食者的基礎(chǔ)上，新素食者應(yīng)運(yùn)而生。新素食者大多受過(guò)良好的教育，不為了單一的宗教信仰而食素，他們關(guān)心動(dòng)物的權(quán)利、在意自身健康，為全球暖化而擔(dān)憂，希望通過(guò)自己的行為喚起公眾意識(shí)覺(jué)醒。

然而在“素食”背后藏著有幾只不容易被看見(jiàn)的手，也在默默推動(dòng)著這一切。早在古羅馬時(shí)期，食物就被賦予了其經(jīng)濟(jì)及政治意義。這層意義在現(xiàn)如今依然存在。大張旗鼓登場(chǎng)的“人造肉”，其健康意義固然不容忽視，不過(guò)背后隱藏的其他種種你看到了嗎？