中国人又背锅！这次居然是因为吃肉......

最近一场大火牵动着全世界人民的心。

澳大利亚的山火，已经肆虐了4个多月。房屋被毁，居民流离失所，还有数不清的动物葬身火海。

澳大利亚严重的火情也让很多人联想到了去年亚马孙雨林熊熊燃烧的大火。

然而，最近却有人把亚马孙发生大火“甩锅”给了中国。

1月7日，《纽约时报》发表了一篇题为“Will China Buy Fake Meat?”(《中国人会买人造肉吗》)的文章，报道了美国植物基人造肉公司Impossible Foods进军中国市场一事。

文章中，Impossible Foods首席执行官帕特·布朗(Pat Brown)指出向中国出售人造肉是为了“保护全球环境”，甚至说 “中国人每吃一块肉，亚马孙雨林里就冒出了一股烟。”

"Every time someone in China eats a piece of meat, a little puff of smoke goes up in the Amazon."

除了布朗的言论，文章还声称：“肉类生产是气候变化的一个主要原因，而中国对猪肉和牛肉不断增长的需求，加剧了对环境的破坏。”

"Meat production is a leading cause of climate change, and the growing demand for pork and beef in China has fueled much of that environmental damage."

其实这种说法已经不是第一次出现了。去年8月亚马孙火灾发生期间，有外国记者曾就此种说法向外交部发言人耿爽提问。

Question：Experts have pointed out that the beef industry is one of the main factors behind the wildfire of the Amazon rain forest. As the biggest importer of Brazilian beef, what does China have to say regarding the impact and causes of fire?

Geng Shuang: You were saying there's a linkage between the fire and beef? The correlation is new to me. China has noted the fire in the Amazon in Brazil. We support the Brazilian government's efforts in fighting the fire and hope it can be put under control as soon as possible. 

“人在家中坐，锅从天上来”

《纽约时报》这篇角度“清奇”的文章让网友们大呼“人在家中坐，锅从天上来”。

不少网友表示强行将中国肉制品消耗量和亚马孙火灾、气候变化和环境问题联系起来简直是无稽之谈。而且从数量上来看，中国的肉类消耗量并不是世界最大的。

根据经济合作与发展组织（OCED）的数据显示，2018年，美国才是肉消耗量最多的国家，人均消耗100.8千克肉类。

The New York Times article has caused a stir on Chinese social media, with netizens pointing out that putting China in the hot seat for the devastating forest fires in the Amazon and claiming that the country's meat appetite is "fuelling much of the environmental damage" are a bit of a stretch.

China is gobbling down more meat than before, but so is the whole word. Countries, both developing and developed, are seeing exponential rises in meat consumption owing mostly to intensive farming systems that turned meat from luxury to commodity and increasing incomes that make meat more affordable – and China is no exception.

But for all the meat the average Chinese wolfs down annually (48.9 kg, according to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development or OECD), it's still significantly less than the 100.8 kg the average American – the world's biggest meat eater – devours every year. In fact, China is not on the OECD's top 10 list of countries with the highest per capita meat consumption, which features the U.S. in the top spot, Australia ranking second, and Brazil in 6th place.

不仅如此，中国在环境保护方面的成就有目共睹。在致力于解决国内环境问题的同时，中国始终积极参与国际环境事务，为环境保护贡献中国方案。

2019年2月，NASA的一项研究报告指出，过去的20年里地球新增了5%的绿化面积，相当于多出了一整块亚马孙雨林。而这全球新増绿化，四分之一贡献率来自于中国。

2019年9月，支付宝推出的“蚂蚁森林”项目获得联合国最高环保荣誉——“地球卫士奖”。这也是中国绿色创新项目和环保人士连续第三年获此奖项。

“中国人会买人造肉吗？”

在《纽约时报》的这篇文章里，布朗肯定了中国是巨大而有潜力的人造肉市场。

"It is an absolutely essential and extremely important market for us."

但他的这一番“中国人吃肉，亚马孙森林冒烟”的言论让网友直呼“他失去了中国市场！” 

不过就算没有布朗的这句话，人造肉能很快被端上中国人的餐桌吗？

In the NYT article “Will China buy fake meat?” Brown said that China is an essential market for plant-based meat. But angry netizens said that linking China's meat consumption to the Amazon fires might not be Brown's ticket to winning Chinese people hearts.

Big plant-based meat purveyors in the U.S. have yet to gain foothold in China, and whether Chinese eaters will swap en masse steaks for their meat-free substitutes remains to be seen.

有不少消费者怀疑人造肉的健康价值：比如人造肉是经过高度加工的食物，是否可能对人体健康不利？人造肉铁吸收率低，对于正在生长发育的儿童等人群来说并不适宜。

除此之外，人造肉的味道也是食客们很关心的问题。

哔哩哔哩网站（简称B站）知名美国UP主郭杰瑞（Jerry Kowal）曾做过一期专门的测评视频，他坦言“人造肉真的不好吃。”

Some Chinese consumers look to plant-based meat with a wary eye, questioning the health halo around these novel offerings.

Taste is king among eaters, and meat alternatives have yet replicate it to a T, although considerable progress in texture, appearance and mouthfeel has been done in the past few years.

还有国外的网友指出，中国有着悠久的素食文化，中国制作仿荤食品已经有数百年历史了。

中餐仿荤食品从大众化到高端化应有尽有——从家常菜中素鸡、素火腿、素烧鹅到素食馆里的高档素鱼翅、素蟹、素河豚，不管是造型还是口感中餐仿荤食品似乎比人造肉都更胜一筹。

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