Most of us don't spend our days ploughing fields or wrangling cattle. We're part of the 99 percent who eat food, but don't produce it.
我們大多數(shù)人每天的工作都不是務(wù)農(nóng)，我們就是那99%的“只吃、不生產(chǎn)”的人。

Because of our intimate relationship with food, people should be very concerned about how it's produced.
不過，由于我們和食物的關(guān)系如此密切，我們還是應(yīng)該多了解一下它們是怎么被生產(chǎn)出來的。

But we don't always get it right.
但我們知道的通常是錯的。

Next time you're at the grocery store, consider these 7 modern myths about the most ancient occupation.
下次你去超市買食材的時候，請想想這7條關(guān)于這個古老行業(yè)的傳說吧。

1. Farming is traditional and low tech
錯誤1：農(nóng)業(yè)是個傳統(tǒng)而低科技的產(chǎn)業(yè)

Self-driving cars are still out of reach for consumers, but tractors have been driving themselves around farms for years.
雖然自動駕駛的汽車現(xiàn)在還買不到，但農(nóng)場上的拖拉機已經(jīng)自動駕駛了好多年了。

And driving tractors isn't the only role GPS plays on a farm.
而且這還不是GPS在農(nóng)場上的唯一應(yīng)用。

The seeds farmers plant are also carefully crafted by years of state-of-the-art research to maximise yield and efficiency.
農(nóng)民們種的種子，也是用最先進的研究成果精心培育了數(shù)年的，這些工序可以最大化它們的產(chǎn)量和效益。

And genetic engineering enables scientists to move genes between species or turn off genes for undesirable characteristics.
而基因工程技術(shù)讓科學家們能在不同種的植物間交換機因，還能關(guān)閉那些造成不好性狀的基因。

Organic farms are not necessarily any less high-tech.
有機農(nóng)場的科技含量也并不會更低。

2. A pesticide is a pesticide is a pesticide
錯誤2：農(nóng)藥就是農(nóng)藥

Pesticide is a generic term for a range of compounds.
農(nóng)藥是對一系列化合物的總稱。

Different classes target certain types of pests: herbicides for weeds, fungicides for fungi, insecticides for insects, rodenticides for rodents.
不同門類的農(nóng)藥能殺滅不同門類的危害：除草劑除草，殺真菌劑殺真菌，殺蟲劑殺蟲，老鼠藥殺嚙齒類動物。

Pesticides fight bugs and weeds in organic and conventional fields.
不管是有機農(nóng)場還是普通農(nóng)場都會用農(nóng)藥來對抗蟲子和雜草。

The difference is that organic pesticides cannot be synthesised artificially.
唯一的不同就是有機農(nóng)藥不能被人工合成。

3. Organic farmers and conventional farmers don't get along
錯誤3：有機農(nóng)業(yè)的農(nóng)民、普通農(nóng)業(yè)的農(nóng)民，合不來

Adjacent farms have to cooperate regardless of how they grow their crops.
對于相鄰的兩塊田來說，不管兩邊的人用它種什么，都得與對方合作。

Poorly managed weeds or insects can also spread from one field to another.
因為雜草和昆蟲這些問題如果處理不好就會在田地之間傳播。

But many farm families actually grow organic and conventional crops on different fields.
不過，其實很多農(nóng)戶都同時用不同的地塊來種植有機作物和普通作物。

Organic and conventional agriculture are different business models.
有機農(nóng)業(yè)和普通農(nóng)業(yè)只是不同的商業(yè)模式罷了。

4. A GMO is a GMO is a GMO
錯誤4：轉(zhuǎn)基因就是轉(zhuǎn)基因

Farmers and plant scientists find the term 'GMO', or genetically modified organism, frustrating.
農(nóng)民和植物學家讀覺得“轉(zhuǎn)基因”這個詞特別麻煩。（因為總有人反對）

There are many ways to genetically modify a crop inside and outside of a lab.
不管是在實驗室里還是實驗室外，都有很多辦法來給一個作物做轉(zhuǎn)基因。

The technique has produced virus-resistant papayas, grains that can survive herbicide application, squash unpalatable to insects, and apples that don't brown.
這種技術(shù)已經(jīng)創(chuàng)造了抗病毒的木瓜、不怕除草劑的谷物、蟲子吃不了的南瓜，以及不會變黑的蘋果。

5. Only meat with a "hormone-free" label is hormone-free
錯誤5：只有標了“無激素”的肉才是無激素的

No meat is hormone-free, because animals (and plants) naturally produce hormones.
世界上沒有肉是無激素的，因為動物和植物（還有人）天生就會產(chǎn)生各種激素。

Hormones like oestrogen can be used to help cows reach market weight more quickly, but the average man produces tens of thousands of times more oestrogen every day than the amount found in a serving of beef from a hormone-treated cow.
像雌激素這樣的激素能讓牛更快地達到上架需要的重量，但一個普通的男人自己每天產(chǎn)生的雌激素就比一塊牛排里含有的要高出上萬倍（對，男人也產(chǎn)生雌激素）。

6. Only meat with an "antibiotic-free" label is antibiotic-free
錯誤6：只有寫了“無抗生素”的肉才是無抗生素的

All the meat in your grocery store is antibiotic-free.
事實上所有的肉都是無抗生素的。

An animal treated with antibiotics cannot be slaughtered until the drugs have cleared its system.
一只還在服用抗生素的動物是不允許被宰殺的，只有等抗生素從它體內(nèi)清干凈了才能殺。

7. Foods labelled "natural" are produced differently
錯誤7：那些標有“純天然”的食物，生產(chǎn)方式不太一樣

Natural food labels don't actually mean anything.
“純天然食品”這個標識其實沒有任何意義。

Not yet, anyway.
至少現(xiàn)在還沒有。

Where to draw the line between natural and unnatural is a tough call, and many experts argue it's irrelevant, because naturalness is not an indication of quality or safety.
天然和非天然之間的界限很難劃分，而且很多專家都認為這個說法沒啥意義，因為“天然”這個概念并不代表高質(zhì)量和安全。

（翻譯：能貓）

聲明：本雙語文章的中文翻譯系滬江英語原創(chuàng)內(nèi)容，轉(zhuǎn)載請注明出處。中文翻譯僅代表譯者個人觀點，僅供參考。如有不妥之處，歡迎指正。