VOA常速英语2015--福岛向来访者力证食品安全

Fukushima Uses UN Conference to Promote Its Food Safety 福岛向来访者力证食品安全

FUKUSHIMA, JAPAN—

In the shadow of northern Japan’s snow-capped mountains, Kazuhiro Watanabe’s strawberries are plump and ready for picking; because of his advanced greenhouses, the crop is ripe for harvest even in early spring.

在日本北部的雪山脚下，渡边一弘（Kazuhiro Watanabe）的草莓园到了收获的旺季。

But the succulent fruit has proved difficult to sell in recent seasons - for Watanabe’s greenhouses are in Fukushima, albeit 1 a long way from the region's crippled nuclear power plant.

但是这种多汁作物已经被证明是很难卖出去的，因为渡边一弘的温室位于福岛，尽管这里离受灾的核电站相去甚远。

“I was in the middle of the strawberry growing season when the earthquake struck. After that I lost half my customers," he said, adding that business has slowly been improving.

渡边一弘说，“地震发生的时候正值草莓生长季。在那之后，我失去了一半的顾客。”

Watanabe said according to the latest surveys, sales of produce from Fukushima are now around 70 to 80 percent of the sales volumes of produce from other parts of Japan. So, gradually, people’s minds are changing.

但是他说，生意正在缓慢复苏。“根据最近的调查，如今福岛的农产品销量大约是日本其他地方农产品销量的70%到80%。看来人们的想法正在逐渐的改变。”

UN conference

Thousands of delegates from around the world gathered for a U.N. conference on disaster risk reduction this week in northeast Japan, where an earthquake-tsunami led to a nuclear disaster at Tokyo Electric Power Co's (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant four years ago.

Local authorities used the conference, and a tour of the local area, to showcase efforts to revitalize the region and dispell concerns over food safety following the radiation leak.

在福岛农业技术中心，所有当地的农产品都在接受辐射检验。

At the Fukushima Agricultural Technology Center, a team of workers in masks and laboratory coats is cutting and mashing 2 fish, chicken and vegetables, before they are put in the latest U.S.-made radiation detectors 3.

All local produce from the region is tested for cesium isotopes 4. Authorities said Japanese safety standards are 10-times stricter for levels of radioactive cesium than in the United States and Europe.

在这栋位于福岛郊区的建筑里，人们正在进行一项有关食品安全的最牵动人心的工作：对校园午餐进行放射物检测。当地政府说，日本对放射性物质铯的安全检测标准比美国和欧洲严格10倍。

The Center’s manager, Katsumi Komaki, emphasizes the international oversight 5 of their activities.

这个中心的管理人员强调了对他们的工作的国际监督。

Komaki said they have cooperated with international organizations, including the International Atomic Energy Agency, in order to research the rate of absorption of radioactive materials by rice and other agricultural products.

福岛农业技术中心的小牧克己说，“我们已经和包括国际原子能机构在内的国际组织合作，研究大米和其他农作物对放射物质的吸收率。”

Next stop is a factory producing more than 3,000 school meals every day, which are also tested for radiation. Samples are put in a blender before undergoing radioactive testing. Spokesperson Atsuko Kano said the process aims to be completely transparent 6.

样本在进行放射元素检测之前被放进一个搅拌机里。权威人士说，这个过程力求全透明。

Kano said that they provide the test results on the Fukushima city website. They also send out information to every parent about the ingredients in the lunches.

福岛市卫生部的鹿野墩子说，“我们将检验结果公布在福岛市的网站上。我们还将有关午餐成分的信息发给每一位家长。”

Food reaching the market

Fukushima is fighting hard to get back on its feet - and the region is using the arrival of thousands of foreign delegates to showcase its efforts. Local government official Mayumi Suzuki organized the tour.

福岛正在努力重振旗鼓，他们也在利用数千外国代表到访的机会展示自己为此所作的努力。当地政府官员铃木真由美（Mayumi Suzuki）组织了这次参观。

“The image of Fukushima is not really good in the world. But this is my dream that I want to tell all the people what’s really happening in Fukushima and that’s why I’m organizing such a tour," Suzuki said.

她说，“福岛现在在世界上的形象不太好。但我的梦想是告诉所有人这里真正在发生什么，因此我组织了这次参观。”

Independent monitoring from environmental groups has revealed "hotspots" of radiation in some areas of Fukushima -- but no evidence of radiation in food reaching the market.

环境组织的独立监测揭示出福岛一些地区的放射“热点”，但是没有证据表明市场上的食物带有放射物质。

In a region once famous in Japan for its produce, farmers and fishermen are desperately 7 trying to reclaim 8 the Fukushima name still synonymous with the nuclear accident.

在这个曾以农产品闻名日本全国的地方，农民和渔民们正迫切地努力重塑福岛的形象。如今福岛这个名字依然是核事故的代名词。