【917-919】 新企业想把假肉卖给中国&美国将削减支持堕胎的外国组织的资金&莫桑比克确诊霍乱
AS IT IS
New Businesses Want to Sell Fake Meat to China
March 27, 2019
Journalists taste test the plant-based hamburgers during a media tour of Impossible Foods labs and processing plant in Redwood City, California, U.S. October 6, 2016. REUTERS/Beck Diefenbach/File Phot
Some new companies that focus on plant protein are starting to do business in Hong Kong. They aim to enter the mainland’s successful multi-billion-dollar food market.
Impossible Foods, JUST and Beyond Meat say their products are more sustainableand environmentally friendly than animal meat.
Plant proteins are fake meat products made from vegetables and grains. They include eggless eggs, pea-stuffed burgers and cell-grown fish products.
The research firm Market and Markets says the value of the global meat substitutes market was around $4.6 billion last year and is predicted to reach $6.4 billion by 2023. Asia is the fastest growing part of that market.
Big money
Plant protein firms have financial support from some of the world’s top billionaires, including Hong Kong businessman Li Ka-shing, philanthropist Bill Gates and actor Leonardo DiCaprio.
Peter Thiel is one of those giving money to San Francisco-based JUST. The company has a value of $1 billion and is planning to start selling its mung bean fake egg product in six Chinese cities starting next month.
The company says its use of the mung bean, a typical Chinese food, helps Chinese customers feel more comfortable with the foods made with it. They trust that it is safe.
China has a history of food safety issues. The problems have included eggs with plastic powder, very old frozen meat and crops ruined with heavy metals.
Nick Cooney is a partner of Lever VC, a U.S.-Asian investor focused on the new food companies. He said Chinese customers will try new, different foods more easily than people in other countries.
Beyond Meat makes burgers and sausages from pea protein. Its sales in Hong Kong increased by 300 percent last year, said Beyond Meat’s David Yeung.
Another competitor, Impossible Foods, says its soy burgers will remove the need to use animals for food and make the global food system sustainable.
The group has received around $450 million in funding since 2011. Investments have come from Lee Ka-shing’s Horizons Ventures and Google Ventures.
Growing fish to meet Asian tastes
Hong Kong-based Avant Meats uses cell technology to replace fish and seafood products. This process uses the stem cells from an animal to grow meat in a laboratory. Avant Meats is developing a cell-based fish parts sample to be introduced later this year, its chief executive Carrie Chan told Reuters. The fish parts are popular in Asian soups and stews.
Right Treat, another Hong Kong company headed by David Yeung, is seeking to replace Asia’s favorite meat – pork. The new product, called “Omnipork,” combines mushrooms, peas and rice for people to use in dumplings and meatballs.
Since Omnipork was first sold in Hong Kong in April 2018, sales have tripled – in other words, increased by three times.
“If we want to change the world, we must find ways to shift Asian diet and consumption, which means we must find ways to reduce Asia’s dependence on pork and other meat products,” said Yeung.
Supporters of plant-based protein say meat substitutes are healthier for people. They also use less water, produce fewer greenhouse gases and use less land than producing the same amount of meat.
Consumers, however, must be willing to pay a little more. Both Omnipork and Impossible Burger are more expensive than the meats they replace.
I’m Jill Robbins.
Farah Master reported on this story for the Reuters news agency. Dr. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor.
Would you eat plant-based meat? How about meat that grows in a laboratory? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.
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Words in This Story
sustainable – adj. involving methods that do not completely use up or destroy natural resources
philanthropist – n. a wealthy person who gives money and time to help make life better for other people
stem cell – n. a simple cell in the body that is able to develop into any one of various kinds of cells (such as blood cells, skin cells, etc.)
sample – n. a small amount of something that is given to people to try
shift – v. to change or to cause (something) to change to a different opinion or belief
consumption – n. the act of eating or drinking something
AS IT IS
Cholera Confirmed in Mozambique
March 27, 2019
A woman carrying a baby on her back jumps as she tries to avoid stepping on the dirty water in Beira, Mozambique, Wednesday, March 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Officials in Mozambique said Wednesday several cases of cholera have been confirmed in the city of Beira. These are the first confirmed cases of cholera announced there since Cyclone Idai hit the area on March 14.
Officials and aid workers are still struggling to provide clean water and sanitation, as well as help hundreds of thousands of people who lost their homes.
Ussene Isse is the national director of medical assistance.
“You know, cholera is an epidemic situation,” he said. “When you have one case, you expect to have more cases in the community.”
Cholera is a major problem for cyclone survivors living in crowded camps, schools, churches and other places where there are still flood waters. The disease is spread by contaminated food and water. It causes severe diarrhea and can kill within hours. It can be treated with different types of rehydration.
The World Health Organization has warned of another disaster if cholera spreads throughout the area. On Tuesday it said 900,000 cholera vaccines were expected to arrive later this week.
Health workers were opening clinics across Beira, the center of aid operations for the area.
Expect more health problems
Some people in the city have started to drink standing water by the side of the road. Doing this increases the chances of diarrhea, the medical charity Doctors Without Borders said.
The aid group said it has seen hundreds of cases of severe watery diarrhea in the past few days. Gert Verdonck is the group’s emergency official in Beira.
He said, “Extreme damage will likely lead to an … increase of waterborne diseases, skin infections … and malaria in the coming days and weeks.”
Efforts to help are continuing
Workers are continuing their efforts to get clean running water to Beira. The United Nations children’s agency said parts of the city’s water supply system were working again. It said there was “water running in 60 percent of the pipes.” The government also was operating water trucks.
Aid operations continued to explore ways to send aid to the city, which is reachable only by air and sea. There has been no contact with some small communities beyond the city.
Aid groups continued to arrive in Mozambique. The United Nations has asked the international community to give $282 million to the country for the next three months.
The U.N. refugee agency announced that its first aid flight had landed in the country’s capital. The agency plans to send supplies to Beira immediately.
Two other flights are planned for Zimbabwe and Malawi this week.
President Nyusi and Pope Francis
In a televised speech to the nation, Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi said Pope Francis will visit the devastated country in September. The Pope’s visit will help the nation “rebuild,” Nyusi said.
President Nyusi last week estimated that 1,000 people had been killed. The number could be higher as floodwaters leave and more bodies appear, some emergency workers have said. The true number of dead may never be known.
The cyclone had winds of up to 240 kilometers an hour and destroyed whole villages.
One resident told The Associated Press, “The cyclone destroyed everything we built for more than 100 years.”
I’m Susan Shand.
The Associate Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for VOA Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor.
Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.
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Words in This Story
cholera - n. a serious disease that causes severe vomiting and diarrhea and that often results in death
sanitation - n. the process of keeping places free from dirt, infection, disease, etc., by removing waste, trash and garbage, by cleaning streets
epidemic - n. an occurrence in which a disease spreads very quickly and affects a large number of people
contaminate - v. to make (something) dangerous, dirty, or impure by adding something harmful or undesirable to it
diarrhea - n. an illness that causes you to pass waste from your body very frequently and in liquid rather than solid form
rehydration - n. the process of returning water to the body
clinic - n. a medical office
AS IT IS
US to Cut Money for Foreign Groups Supporting Abortions
March 27, 2019
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo answers a question during a news conference on Tuesday, March 26, 2019, at the Department of State in Washington.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said the United States will reduce the amount of money it gives to the Organization of American States, or OAS.
The reduction is tied to existing rules that bar the United States from providing money for medical operations to end pregnancies or efforts to support abortions.
The restrictions now extend to foreign groups that provide money to other organizations that promote or provide abortions. Pompeo said at least two agencies connected to the OAS appear to be promoting abortion availability in the Western Hemisphere.
Pompeo said the administration of President Donald Trump is able to meet “critical global health goals, including providing health care for women while refusing to subsidize the killing of unborn babies.”
The policy requires that foreign nongovernmental organizations that receive family-planning money from the United States must show that they do not provide or support abortions.
The policy is sometimes called the “Mexico City Policy” after the place where it was first announced in the 1980s, under the presidency of Ronald Reagan. Later presidents canceled or did not follow the policy. The Trump administration put the policy in place again in 2017.
Critics call the policy a “global gag rule.” They say it prevents people from talking about abortion and hurts reproductive care.
State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said the United States would cut about $210,000 dollars from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an independent group within the OAS.
Pompeo said the aim is for American taxpayer money to not be used to pay for abortions.
Democratic lawmakers denounced the expansion to the policy. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called it “cruel” on Twitter. And Jeanne Shaheen, a Democratic senator from New Hampshire, said the move was “dangerous” to the reproductive health of women.
I’m Jill Robbins.
Marissa Melton reported this story for VOA News. Mario Ritter Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.
We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.
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Words in This Story
abortion –n. a medical operation used to end a pregnancy and cause the death of the fetus.
promote –v. to help something happen, develop or increae
global –adj. involving the entire world
subsidize –v. to help someone pay for the cost of a product or service