[영어] This simple step can double the shelf life of fruits and vegetables - CNN 기사를 통한 영어 공부

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영어 기사를 통해 영어 공부를 한 번 해보기로 했다.

그래서 cnn 에 들어가서 slow foods 라고 검색해서 나온 글 중 관심이 있는 글을 하나 클릭해서 공부해본다.

기사의 제목은 "This simple step can double the shelf life of fruits and vegetables".

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아래 기사를 읽으면서 정확히 이해가 안 가는 부분들이나 관심 있는 단어들에 대해 형광펜 처리해보았다.

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출처 : https://edition.cnn.com/2018/10/23/tech/apeel/index.html

This simple step can double the shelf life of fruits and vegetables

One company is doubling the shelf-life of avocados, citrus and other produce by taking a chemical-free cue from nature.

Many of us have been instructed at one point in our lives to finish the food on our plate because people elsewhere are starving. But we don't always listen. In fact, an estimated 1.3 billion tons of food — or one-third of all food produced for human consumption — is wasted annually. One in in nine people worldwide go to bed on an empty stomach each night.

It was on a drive through verdant farmland in California that Apeel CEO James Rogers heard a story on the radio about global hunger. "According to the numbers, we were producing more than enough food to feed people," he recalled thinking.

After researching the issue, he realized spoilage was at the root of the problem. In 2012, he founded Apeel Sciences, which aims to extend the shelf-life of food and reduce waste. Rather than relying on chemical agents to preserve fresh produce, it develops a special protective coating to slow down the rotting process.

The company turns the oil from fruits and vegetables into a colorless, odorless, tasteless powder to preserve its longevity.

The company is backed by Micorosoft cofounder Bill Gates and venture capitalist Andressen Horowitz, and has raised $110 million dollars in financing to date. Walter Robb, the former co-CEO of Whole Foods, recently joined its board of directors.

According to the United Nations, 40% of food loss and waste happens after it is harvested and processed in developing countries because transporting it is an infrastructure challenge. It is also expensive due to the need for refrigerated trucks.

In developed countries, a significant amount of loss happens at the retail and consumer level — we throw the food out when it's spoiled or no longer meets our standards.

"All of the energy — everything that's required to get the food from where it's produced to ultimately being on that store shelf, throwing that away — that's a tragedy," Rogers said.

It's also bad business. Food waste is nearly a trillion dollar loss globally. Apeel offers grocers the potential to boost margins by reducing waste.

Food typically rots when moisture exits, oxygen gets in and mold takes over. To prevent this, Apeel takes the skins, seeds and pulp of homogeneous fruits or veggies -- such as grapes from a winery or tomato skins from a ketchup factor -- and presses out an oil rich in fat lipids. The company turns the oil into a colorless, odorless, tasteless powder that is tailored for each type of produce to which it will be applied.

Apeel says its product can double the shelf life of fruits and vegetables.

It's then mixed with water by the suppliers before it arrives at the store. The produce is either rinsed in or sprayed with the mixture at packaging facilities, essentially creating a second "peel."

The product is recognized as safe by the Food and Drug Administration.

Apeel says the process is doubling the shelf life of fruits and vegetables and can triple it inside their lab. It aims to extend the life of some produce by four times.

"As we start to approach four-time extension for fresh produce, we can completely flip on its head this idea that we need cold chain storage in order to get fresh produce from where it's grown to where it's going to be eaten," Rogers said.

Apeel products are on shelves in more than 200 US stores, including Costco and Kroger. Harps Food Stores, a grocery chain testing with avocados, said it has already seen a 50% boost in avocado profit margins because it is taking advantage of the longer shelf life and throwing out less product.

Customers see no price difference at checkout, according to Apeel.

Apeel is already expanding outside the United States with partners in Africa to help lessen the load on global infrastructure costs. One of the highest costs a country can bear, Rogers added.

"If you don't need to install electricity grids and refrigeration equipment at every point along that supply chain — and can instead deliver a pouch of our material, which is lightweight and low cost to distribute, to a remote region where it can then be applied — you now have an extra week to transport it without refrigeration," he said. "That has the opportunity to be really transformative."

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솔직히 의미는 95% 이상으로 다 이해했지만, 단어들에 대해 공부를 해보자.

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shelf life : 처음에는 이게 뭔가 했는데, context 상 눈치챘다. "보관 기간" 을 의미한다.

cue : 내가 알고 있던 의미는 "단서, 신호". 처음에는 해석이 잘 안 되었는데 몇 번 읽다보니 이해가 된다.

One in in nine : in 이 두번 들어가서 궁금했는데, 단순 오타로 보인다. 우리나라는 십(10) 중 하나(1)라는 느낌을 쓰는데 미국에서는 구(9) 중 하나(1) 라고 쓰나보다.

verdant : (처음 본 단어) 신록의, 파릇파릇한

spoilage : (예상했던 대로) 부패, 손상. spoil 의 명사형.

longevity : (예상했던 대로) 장수, 오래 지속됨. long 의 명사형.

to date : (예상했던 대로) 지금까지

board of directors : (예상했던 대로) 이사회

grocers : grocery 와 관련이 있을 거라고 생각했는데.. 식료품 잡화상, 식료품 잡화점.

mold : (이걸 까먹다니 싶었던..) 곰팡이, 부식토. 여기서는 곰팡이의 의미가 맞겠다.

pulp : 종이 펄프 할 때 그 펄프이다. 그런데 "과육" 이라는 의미로도 사용되고, "으깨 걸죽한 것" 이라는 의미로도 쓰인다.

lipid : (처음 본 단어) 지질, 지방질

Food And Drug Administration : FDA 의 full name 이라는 걸 알고 있었지만 기억을 위해 한 번 더 적어보았다.

flip on its head : flip 자체가 무언가를 뒤짚다는 의미인데, flip on its head this idea 까지 뭔가 내가 아는 문법상 정확히 이해가 안 갔고, 정확한 이디엄도 찾지 못했다. 가장 근접하게 찾은 의미는 "완전히 생각을 뒤짚다." 정도라고 하겠다.

leseen : (예상했던 대로) 줄이다.

pouch : (덩어리적인 느낌이었는데) 주머니, 우편물 행낭

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대부분은 context 상 이해할 수 있는 단어들이었지만, 자주 쓰지 않아 고개를 한번씩 갸우뚱하게 만드는 단어들.

앞으로도 틈틈히 이런 식으로라도 영어 공부 해야겠다.

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동종 식품의 코팅으로 식품의 지속성을 늘려 버려지는 음식물을 줄이자는 취지와 기술이 아주 훌륭하다.