听力课堂TED音频栏目主要包括TED演讲的音频MP3及中英双语文稿，供各位英语爱好者学习使用。本文主要内容为演讲MP3+双语文稿:大数据、小农场和两个西红柿的故事，希望你会喜欢！

【演讲者及介绍】企业家Erin Baumgartner认为通往优质食物的道路是用数据铺就的。她计划创建一个更健康、零浪费的食品系统，这种体系重视当地小型农场品质和口味。

【演讲主题】大数据、小农场和两个西红柿的故事Big data, small farms and a tale of two tomatoes

【中英文字幕】翻译者Shuang Yang校对者Meng Ren

So data and analytics are dramatically changing our everyday lives. Not just online, not just in some distant future, but in the physical world, and in very real and tangible ways. I spent the past 11 years of my life as a geek at MIT, working in big data labs that seek to use data science to study the physical world and try to solve society's great problems. The field of big data seeks to analyze massive pools of data using computational tools to find patterns and trends. Data can be a really extraordinary storyteller, unveiling the hidden narratives of things in our everyday lives that we never would have seen. I find the personal stories of inanimate things brought to life to be extraordinarily compelling. I want to highlight, first, two projects from my time at MIT that I think highlight this phenomenon really well.

数据和分析正以惊人的程度 改变着我们的日常生活。 不只是在网络上，不只是在遥远的未来， 而就在实体世界中，在非常真实可触的方面。过去 11 年，我都在 麻省理工学院的大数据实验室里 过着极客的生活， 我想用数据科学来研究实体世界， 并尝试解决社会上的重大问题。 大数据领域尝试使用计算工具分析大数据池，摸清规律和趋势。 数据讲述故事的能力非比寻常，它们可以揭露我们日常生活中鲜为人知的事实， 有些我们甚至闻所未闻。我发现，那些无生命的物体被数据赋予生命后， 能讲述出引人入胜的故事。 我想先谈谈我在麻省理工进行的两个课题， 我觉得它们可以很好地佐证这种说法。

The first is called Trash Track, and in this project, we sought to better understand the waste-management system, to answer the question "Where does your trash go when you throw it away ?" Your old coffee cup or that flip phone that you carried around in the early 2000s, or a bagel or this morning's paper -- where do these things go? This data didn't exist, so we had to create it. We answered and then visualized this question by installing small sensors into pieces of trash and then throwing them into the waste system. And what you're seeing here is the data. Every line, every node that you see is a single piece of trash moving through the city of Seattle, and then across the state, and then across the country, as weeks and months go by. And it's important to visualize this data, because none of you are, probably, sitting here thinking, "Yeah, that looks right." "That's working like it should, right?" Because, no – What the data shows us is a highly inefficient system whose inherent brokenness I don't think we really would have seen had the sensors not done the journalism for us.

第一个课题叫做“垃圾追踪”， 在这个课题中，我们期望 可以更好地了解垃圾处理体系， 借以回答 “垃圾被丢弃后去了哪里？” 这个问题。 你的旧咖啡杯， 或是在 21 世纪初 你每天携带的翻盖手机， 或是一个面包圈， 或是今天早上的报纸—— 它们都去了哪里？ 现成的数据并不存在， 所以我们必须自己来创建。 通过在垃圾上安装微小传感器， 再将它们投入垃圾系统， 我们回答了这个问题， 并将答案可视化。 各位看到的这些就是数据。每个线条、每个节点 都是一件垃圾在几周、几个月内 在西雅图市内， 继而跨州， 继而跨国的运行轨迹。将这份数据可视化非常重要， 因为在座可能没有人会觉得 "没错，看起来挺合理的。" “应该就是这样的，对吧？” 因为，并非如此—— 这份数据向我们展示的 是一个非常低效的体系， 如果没有传感器为我们提供数据， 我们就不可能发现 该体系中固有的弊端。

A second project that I'd have to highlight has to do with creating robots that dive into sewers and sample wastewater. I know that sewage kind of gets a bad rap, but it's actually kind of awesome, because it can tell us an incredible amount about the health of our communities. This technology was spun out by a group call Biobot Analytics, who's creating a cutting-edge technology to turn our sewers into modern-day health observatories. Their goal is to study opioids within the sewage to better understand consumption in cities. And this data is key, because it really helps cities understand where people are using, how to allocate resources and the effectiveness of programming over time. Once again, the technology that's built into this machine is pulling back the curtain and showing us something about our cities that we never would have seen without it. So it turns out, as we see, that big data is really everywhere -- even in your toilet. And so now that we've talked about trash and sewage, let's move on ... to food.

我要展示的第二个课题是制造机器人， 并将它们放入 排水管道和废水样本中。 我知道污水听起来有点倒胃口， 但实际上它非常有用， 因为它可以告诉我们 很多有关社区人口的健康数据。这种技术由打造尖端科技的组织 Biobot Analytics（生物科技分析）提供。 他们将我们的排水管 改造成了现代健康观察室。 他们的目的就是研究 污水中的类鸦片物质， 从而更好地理解 它们在城市中的消耗量。 这份数据很关键， 因为，随着时间的推移， 它的确能让管理者更好地理解 人们都把资源用在了哪里， 如何分配， 以及市政工程的有效性。在机器中用到的技术也同样 向我们呈现出， 如果没有它，我们绝不可能知晓的 有关我们城市的信息。 正如我们所见， 大数据无处不在， 即便是在马桶中。 聊过了垃圾和废水， 我们接下来谈谈食物。

A year ago, I left MIT to pursue a passion in food, and in 2017, started a company with my husband, called Family Dinner. The goal of our company is to create community around local food and the people who grow it. To make this happen, we're using data analytics, automation and technology to build a distributed network of local farms and to make improvements on the food system. So what we see here is that the broad techniques and the mission of what we're trying to do is really not dissimilar from the work at the MIT labs. Which brings us to a critical question: Why exactly would someone leave a very promising career at one of the top urban science labs in the world to drive carrots around in her mom's Acura? It's a great car. Because I believe that the story of local food needs to be understood, told and elevated, and in many ways, I think that nerds like us are really uniquely poised to tell it. So where are we starting? What's our starting point? The current national food system is optimized for one thing only, and that's corporate profit, right? And think about that. The most compelling reason for food companies to exist is not to feed hungry people, it's not to make delicious-tasting food. It's profit. And that has detrimental effects at all levels of our food system.

一年前，为了追寻我对美食的热情， 我离开了麻省理工。 2017 年， 我和丈夫合开了一家公司， 叫“家常晚饭”。 我们公司的宗旨是 围绕本地食材 和种植食材的人， 创建一个社区。 为了实现这个目标， 我们运用数据分析、 自动化和各种技术， 打造了一个本地农场的分布网， 并为食品系统做出了一些改善。 我们发现。 我们所使用的各种方法 和想达成的目标， 和麻省理工实验室里的研究工作 没什么本质区别。 这让我们不禁开始思考 一个严峻的问题： 为什么会有人愿意放弃 世界顶尖科学实验室里的 一份大有前途的工作， 反而开着她老妈的车 到处运胡萝卜呢？ 那车真不错。 因为，我坚信本地食品的故事 值得被理解、被传播和被升华。 而且，出于各种原因， 像我们这样的书呆子 刚好非常适合做这件事儿。 那么，我们从哪里着手呢？ 我们从哪里开始？ 目前国家的食品体系 只以一件事为优化目标， 那就是企业利益，对吧？ 但是你细想一下， 食品公司存在的最有力的理由， 并不是养活饥饿的人， 也不是做出美味的食物， 而是盈利。这一点对我们的食品体系的各个层面 都有着不利影响。

The antibiotics and pesticides that are being put into our food are detrimental to our health. Price pressure is forcing small farms out of business. In fact, a lot of the things that you think about farms no longer exist. Farms don't look like farms, they look like factories. And at the end of the day, the quality of the food that we're eating really suffers, too. A factory-farm tomato may kind of look like a regular tomato: bright red exterior ... But when you bite into it, the taste and texture just leave you wanting. And we know that perhaps the greatest tragedy in all of this is that between 30 and 40 percent of this food is just wasted ... thrown away. That is 1.6 billion tons. I can't even wrap my head around that number. 1.6 billion tons. That's 1.2 trillion dollars a year in wasted food. That is the cost of on-demand eating and convenience and the broken food system.

在食品中加入的 抗生素和杀虫剂， 对我们的健康有害。过分压价让小农场纷纷破产。实际上，你能想到的 很多关于农场的事， 都不复存在了。 农场不再像农场， 反而像是工厂。 而最终， 我们吃进口中的食品质量 也着实令人担忧。 工业农场的西红柿 也许看起来和普通西红柿差不多： 都有亮红色的外皮。 但是，当你咬一口之后， 它的味道和质感 就会让你非常不满意。 并且，我们都知道， 在食品产业， 最令人无法接受的就是， 这样的食物有三到四成都被浪费了， 被白白扔掉了， 足足有 16 亿吨。 我甚至无法想象这个数字有多大。 整整 16 亿吨啊。 每年有价值 12000 亿美元的食物 被浪费掉了。 这就是我们为即需即食、 生活便利、 和破洞百出的食品体系， 所要付出的代价。

Now, where's this waste happening? Where's all this waste coming from? Well, we know that it happens in the field when you don't pick the sexiest-looking potatoes. We know that it happens in transit, at the warehouses, in the grocery stores. And finally, on our own kitchen counters, when we determine that that spotty, brown banana no longer looks so yummy. All that waste, all that effort. Food is planted, grown, harvested, shipped, and then just thrown away.

那么，这种浪费出现在哪里呢？ 它们是从哪里来的？ 我们知道它出现在 你放弃采摘 模样最好看的土豆的田地里，我们知道它出现在运输过程中， 在仓库里， 在便利店里。最后，当我们觉得那根斑斑点点的棕褐色香蕉不再诱人了的时候，浪费也出现在了我们自家的厨房台面上。 花费了好大力气， 浪费了好多食物。食物被种植、 生长、收获和运输， 随后就被扔掉了。

We think that there has to be a better way. And so how to we improve upon this? How do we make a better system? In order to do this, we understand that we need to eliminate waste in the food supply chain. We need to get data in the hands of farmers, so that they can make better predictions. So they can, you know, kind of compete with the big guy.

我们觉得应该有更好的办法。 那么我们如何改善呢？ 我们如何创建更完善的体系呢？ 为了达成这一点， 我们认为应该在食品供应链中 杜绝浪费。我们需要让农民们获得数据， 这样他们才能做出更好的预测。 这样他们才能和大公司抗衡。

And then finally, we need to prize, as a company, quality and taste above everything, so that people really value the delicious food on their plates.|最终，我们作为一个公司 应该把品质和口感 放在最重要的位置。 这样人们才会珍惜 自己盘子里可口的食物。

This, we believe, is the better system. This is the better way. And the path to that better way is paved with data.|我们认为这样才是更好的体系。 这才是更好的未来。 而通向更好未来的路 是由数据铺设的。

To highlight all of this, I want to tell the tale of two tomatoes. We'll talk about them one by one.|为了强调以上的种种， 我想讲两个西红柿的故事。 我们一个一个地说。

A tomato in itself contains a beautiful snapshot of everything you might want to know about the life cycle of that fruit: where it was grown, what it was treated with, nutritional value, miles traveled to get to your plate, CO2 emissions along the way.|一颗西红柿本身 就是自己的完美注解， 蕴含了有关那颗果实的 生命循环的一切信息： 它在哪里生长， 被如何培养， 它的营养价值， 如何“长途跋涉”才到达你的盘子里， 以及这一路上所释放的二氧化碳。

All of that information, all those little chapters in one small fruit. It's very exciting.|所有的这些信息， 有关这个小果实的 所有细节都被包含在内。 真是振奋人心。

This is tomato number one.|这颗西红柿是一号。

This is the guy that you'll find in sub shops, supermarkets and fast-food joints around the world.|它是你能在全世界的 连锁店、超市、 和快餐店都能看到的西红柿。

It's got a really long and complicated backstory.|它有着非常冗长复杂的背景故事：

It's been treated with a cocktail of, like, a dozen pesticides and it has traveled at least 1,600 miles to get to your house.|经受了十几种杀虫剂的摧残， 历经了至少 1600 英里的跋涉， 才能到达你的家中。

And the image here is green, because these tomatoes are picked when green and hard as a rock, and then they are gassed along the way so that when they arrive at the destination, they look bright and shiny and red and ripe.|图片里的西红柿是绿色的， 因为这些西红柿被采摘时， 就是绿色的，而且硬得像石头一样， 一路上它们会被喷洒某种气体， 这样在到达目的地时， 它们看起来就会非常新鲜透亮， 色泽鲜红且已经成熟。

All of that effort, all of that agricultural innovation and technology to create a product that is entirely without taste.|所有这些环节， 所有这些农业创新和技术， 都只为了打造一种 完全没有口感的产品。

And onto the second tomato in our tale. This is the local version of the fruit. Its story is much, much shorter.|接下来，就是我们故事里的 第二个西红柿了， 也就是本地的蔬果。 这个故事就要短得多了。

This guy was grown by Luke Mahoney and his family at Brookford Farm in Canterbury, New Hampshire.|这颗西红柿来自卢克 · 马哈尼一家 位于新罕布什尔州 坎特博雷的布鲁克弗德农场。

It's got a pretty boring backstory.|它的背景故事非常无聊。

It was planted, sat in the sun and then it was picked.|它被种下， 沐浴在阳光中， 然后被采摘。

That's it. Like, you wouldn't want to -- yeah, there's not much more to that.|没了。 你根本不想… 实际上也没什么可说的。

And it traveled maybe 70 miles to get your plate. But the difference is dramatic.|它可能只需要跨越 70 英里 就能到你的盘子里。 但却与前者有着天壤之别。

I want you think about the last time you ate a fresh, summer tomato.|我希望各位能回忆一下你们吃到的 最后一颗夏季的新鲜西红柿。

And I know we're all covered in our jackets, but think about it. The last time you ate a tomato from the garden. It's warm from the sun, it's richly red, maybe it smells like dirt.|我知道现在天气很冷， 但请试着想象一下， 上次你吃到果园里的一颗西红柿， 因为阳光的沐浴， 它还是温暖的， 有着鲜艳的红色， 也许闻起来有些泥土味。

There's something nostalgic and almost magical in that experience.|这种体验带来了怀旧感， 甚至夹杂着神奇的感觉。

The taste and the flavor are incomparable.|那种口感和味道是无可比拟的。

And we really don't have to travel super far to get it.|况且我们真的不需要 长途跋涉去体验。

Now this story extends up the food chain, from the fruits and the vegetables that are on our plate to the animals and the animal products that we consume.|这个故事可以扩展至整个食品链。 从我们餐盘中的水果蔬菜， 到我们消耗的肉类和动物制品。

What goes into raising them, and more importantly, what doesn't go into raising them, is critically important.|饲养它们需要些什么， 更主要的是， 饲养它们不需要什么， 这是至关重要的。

Luke and his family have 60 cows. They use traditional methods.|卢克一家有 60 头奶牛， 他们使用最传统的方法：

They do it the old way: pasture-raised, no hormones, no antibiotics, hay for days.|最传统的 牧场放养。 无激素、无抗生素、 草料会被自然晒干几天。

And what they're doing here is just treating cows like they're cows, not like they're in a science experiment.|他们把奶牛真正当做奶牛来对待， 而不是科学试验品。

He's raising animals the way that his grandfather and his grandfather would have.|他用和他的祖父，以及 祖父的祖父一样的方法 饲养着动物。

And at the end, it's just better. It's better for the animals; it's better for the environment.|结果，一切都变得更好了。 对动物有改善， 对环境也有改善。

Luke is not optimizing for profit or price, but for taste and for humanity.|卢克并不为了利润或价格做调整， 而是为了口感和人道。

And what you're thinking is, "There's already a solution to this. It's the farmer's markets."|各位肯定在想， “现在已经有了解决方案， 那就是农贸市场。”

The ones that many of you visit and the ones that I really enjoy.|在座好多人都去过的， 我本人也很喜欢逛。

They are a wonderful, but, in many ways, suboptimal solution.|那里的确很棒，但在很多方面， 那只是退而求其次的方案。

For us as the consumers, it's kind of great, right?|作为消费者， 我们感觉还不错，对吧？

You go, there's this beautiful bounty of food, you get the warm and fuzzies for supporting a local farm and you get the experience of trying something new and trying diverse products.|到了那里， 有这么多精美的食物。 因为支持了本地农场， 自我感觉还不赖， 而且还有了尝试新鲜事物 和多元产品的经验。

And inevitably, there's some guy playing the ukulele somewhere in the background.|最主要的是，后面还有个人 为你弹奏尤克里里。

But for the farmers, this presents a lot of risk, right?|但对于农民而言， 要承担很多风险，对吧？

You wake up at four. You pack your truck, you hire a team, you get to your stall, but you have no guarantees that you're going to move your product that day.|你要四点起床， 装好卡车，雇用团队， 到了摊位， 但你还是不能确定 当天能不能把产品卖出去。

There's too many variables in New England.|在新英格兰有太多变数了。

For example, the weather, which is just, like, a little bit unpredictable here.|比如说天气， 在这儿就有点阴晴难测。

The weather is one of the many X factors that determine whether or not a market will be worth it for the farmers.|天气是农民们决定 一个市场是否值得的 众多不确定因素之一。

Every time, they roll the dice.|他们每次都要孤注一掷，

And there's another option.|还有另外一个办法。

Here, we're talking about CSAs: community-supported agriculture.|这里我们要提到 CSA，也就是社区扶持农业。

In this model, customers pay up front, bearing the financial risk for the farms.|在这种模式下，消费者预先付款， 为农场承担资金风险。

Farmers grow what they can and the customers enjoy that bounty.|农夫们尽可能地劳作， 消费者享受收获的果实。

This also has a couple issues. It's great for the farmer, because they're ensuring that they'll sell what they buy, but for us, we still have to go and pick up that share, and we know that a lot of farms can't grow a huge diversity of products, so sometimes, you're stuck with a mountain of any one particular thing.|这也存在几个问题， 这对于农民来说很好， 因为他们确定 所有作物都可以卖掉， 但对我们来说， 我们得自己去取货。 而且我们知道很多农场 无法种植多样产品， 所以，有时候你会得到 大量的单一品种。

Maybe this has happened to some of you.|也许，在座的一些人 有过这样的体验。

And what do you do with 25 pounds of rutabaga in the dead of winter? I still don't know.|在极寒的冬天你会如何处理 25 磅大头菜呢？ 我始终都不知道。

So back to the question. How do we fix this?|言归正传， 我们要如何应对这个问题？

What we're hoping to do and what we're hoping to build is just a better way to CSA.|我们所期望的， 我们希望创建的， 是社区扶持农业的更好的办法。

And there are three core innovations that make this thing hum.|要想实现这个目的， 需要三个核心创新。

The first of which is a subscription-based e-commerce platform, which helps us create a consistent demand for our farmers throughout the year.|第一个， 就是以订阅为基础的电商平台， 它可以在一整年内 为我们的农民 提供持续的需求量。

The subscription part here is key. Orders process weekly, customers opt out instead of opt in -- that means we've got kind of the same number of orders week to week.|这里的订阅是关键。 订单每周下达一次， 客户默认购买， 不需要每次都自己下单—— 这就意味着我们每周 都有着几乎等量的订单。

Second, this means that if farmers can sell online, they're no longer limited to the geography directly around their farm or to the number of markets that they can sell.|第二，这也意味着 农夫们可以网上出售， 他们不再局限于 农场周围的地理条件， 或是他们可以出售的市场数量。

We've blown the doors off of that for them.|我们为他们打破了这样的限制。

Second: demand forecasting.|第二：需求预测。

We're using analytics to allow ourselves to look into the future and forecast demand.|我们以数据为依据进行分析， 来预测需求。

This lets farmers know how much to harvest in the near-term, but also what to plant going forward.|农民们不仅可以了解 在季末需要收获多少， 也可以提前知道要播种多少。

If 200 orders process on Monday, then we buy to meet that exact demand.|如果周一下了 200 个订单， 我们就去采供 符合这个数量的货品。

200 heads of broccoli, 200 pieces of salmon, et cetera, et cetera.|比如，200 颗西蓝花， 200 片鲑鱼，等等。

This automation in ordering means that here, we are eliminating the waste in the food system that bothers us all so much, because we are ensuring that the supply meets the exact demand.|订购时的自动化， 就意味着在这里 我们会杜绝食品体系内 一直以来困扰我们的浪费现象。 因为我们确保供等于求。

It also allows us to look into the future with the farmers and do crop planning.|同样的，这可以让我们和农民们 以数据为导向， 进行播种规划。

So if we can say to them, in June of this year, "I'm going to need 400 pounds of asparagus and 500 pounds of berries every week," they can plant that accordingly, knowing with confidence that they will sell everything that they have grown.|如果我们在今年六月对他们说， “我每周需要 400 磅的芦笋 和 500 磅的树莓”， 他们就可以相应地进行种植。 因为他们可以确保 他们种多少都可以卖掉。

And finally, we use a route-optimization software to help us solve the problem of the traveling salesman.|最后，我们还用到了 路线优化软件 来协助我们 解决运输中介的问题。

We get a fleet of workers to come in and help us go the last mile, bringing all these goodies directly to your door.|我们有一群员工帮助我们 实现最后一英里的运输， 将这些优质农产品 直接送到您家门口。

Without data science and a super-capable, wonderful team, none of this would be possible.|要是没有数据科学， 和一个优秀、称职的团队， 这一切都不可能实现。

So maybe you've seen that we've got some sort of fiery, passionate core beliefs.|也许各位已经看到了， 我们有雄心勃勃、 充满激情的核心信念。

Yes, we're trying to build a sustainable business, but our eye is not only on profit, it's on building a better, holistic system of food.|没错，我们在努力打造 一个可持续发展的企业， 但我们的目标并不只是盈利， 而是创建一个更完善、 更全面的食品体系。

And here's what we value. People first.|我们的核心价值观就是， 以人为本。

We're trying to build community around food, the people who love it and the people who grow it.|我们希望围绕食品， 围绕热爱食物和种植作物的人 来创建社区。

We built this company to support small farms. Zero waste.|我们创建这个公司 是为了扶持小农场。 杜绝浪费。

We all hate wasting food, it just feels wrong -- even that weirdo banana that's been sitting around on your coffee table for too long.|我们都痛恨浪费食物， 因为这是不对的—— 即便是那根在茶几上 放了太久的，难看的香蕉。

And lastly, taste. If it doesn't taste good, if it's not that, like, perfect summer tomato, why bother?|最后，就是味道。 如果味道不好， 如果尝起来不是像那颗 完美的夏日西红柿一样， 我们又何必这样折腾呢？

So what we've done is worked with all these local farms to bring their things in and then to drop them directly at your door, so that we're connecting you right to them and making, again, a more holistic system.|所以我们和这些本地农场合作， 把他们新鲜的农产品 直接送到各位的家门口。 在顾客和农户之间建立连接， 以构建一个更为全面的体系。

This is our vision of the future. To extend this model beyond Boston, beyond New England and across the country.|这就是我们对未来的畅想： 把这个体系从波士顿、从新英格兰 推广到其他国家；

To create a nationwide distributed network of local farms and to connect all these farmers with the people like you who will love their food.|并创建一个全国的 本地农场分布网络， 将所有农民 和像在座的各位一样 钟爱他们的农产品的人联系起来。

We believe, at the end of the day, that really insisting on eating local food is a revolutionary act.|我们坚信， 坚持食用本地农产品 将是一项革命性的举措。

And we invite you to join us. And who knows? You may even make some friends along the way.|我们诚挚地邀请各位加入我们。 说不定， 你们也许还会在这个过程中 交到一些朋友。

Thank you very much.|非常感谢。