英文阅览巧克力的故事

中学生：巧克力来自哪里？
    　　Have you ever wondered where the chocolate in your favorite candy bar comes from？ Chocolate comes from the cacao1 tree， which grows in warm， tropical2 areas of West Africa， Indonesia， Malaysia， Mexico and South America. And who eats the delicious chocolate made from the cacao grown in these places？ The majority of chocolate is consumed3 in Europe and North America. This probably sounds like a familiar story—developing countries produce cheap raw4 materials that are produced and sold as finished goods in developed countries. Generally， that is what happens with chocolate. Large chocolate companies buy cacao beans at a low price and produce cocoa and chocolate products to sell at a high price.

 
    　　But the familiar story has a new chapter. Beginning in the 1980s， some consumers learned that cacao farmers were living difficult and uncertain lives. The farmers received money for their crops based on world markets， and the market price for cacao was sometimes so low that farmers received less for their crops than the crops had cost to produce. In response， groups of consumers in Europe and the United States developed “fair trade” organizations to make sure that farmers of cacao， as well as coffee and tea， would receive fair and consistent prices for their crops.
    　　Fair trade organizations5 help farmers by buying cacao beans or other products from them directly at higherthanmarket prices without“middle men” such as exporters. Fair trade organizations also encourage farming techniques that are not harmful to the environment or to farm workers， for example， growing cacao without chemical pesticides6 or fertilizers7 in the shade of rain forest trees. One organization， Equal Exchange， helps farmers set up farming cooperatives in which they can share resources and work on projects such as community schools. Another， Fair Trade Labeling Organizations International （FLO）， guarantees that products bearing its label meet standards that improve the lives of growers and producers.

    　　The results of fair trade are a better standard of living for some farmers and nicer chocolate bars made with organically produced cocoa that consumers don’t feel guilty8 about buying. And although fair trade chocolate is somewhat more expensive than other chocolate and now makes up only 1% of chocolate sold， the fair trade idea is spreading quickly. You may soon see fair trade chocolate right next to the more famous bars in your favorite store.

    　　你可曾想過你最喜爱的巧克力糖块从哪里来？巧克力来自可可豆，可可树生长在温暖的热带区域——西非、印度尼西亚、马来西亚、墨西哥和南美。谁吃过生善于这些区域的可可做成的甘旨巧克力？很多的巧克力销往欧洲和北美。这或许听起来像一个了解的故事——开展我国家出产廉价的原资料用于制作而且终究以制品销往发达国家。一般巧克力的出产过程便是这样。大型巧克力公司以贱价收买可可豆，然后出产出可可和巧克力产品，以相对较高的价格出售。

    　　可是了解的故事有了新的篇章。从上世纪八十年代开端，一些顾客得知可可农人日子困难且不安靖。农人依据世界商场状况靠农作物挣钱。可可商场价格有时候太低以至于农人收到的价钱比农作物成本低。为此欧洲和美国的很多顾客成立了公正交易安排，以保证农人的可可、咖啡和茶将取得公正共同的价格。

    　　公正交易安排以高于商场的价格购买农人们的可可豆和其它产品以协助他们，而不必通过中间商如出口商。公正交易安排还鼓舞开展那些对环境和农人无害的农耕科技，例如，栽培可可时雨林的范围内不运用化学杀虫剂和化肥。一个名为“公正交易”的安排协助农人树立农业协作社，他们能够共享资源、共同完成项目，如社区校园。另一个世界公正交易标价安排（FLO）则保证带标价的产品到达规范从改进农人和出产商日子。
    　　公正交易带来了好结果。有些农人日子规范提高了，有安排地出产出更好的巧克力棒，这让顾客买起来不必再愧疚了。尽管公正交易的巧克力比其他巧克力贵，只占有了巧克力出售的百分之一，可是公正交易的理念敏捷传达开来。你或许很快就会在喜爱的商店里看到有名巧克力周围的公正交易巧克力了。