2022年 Text 1

[IJSOn a recent sunny day, 13,000 chickens roam over Larry Brown's 40 windswept acres in Shiner, Texas. ❷Some rest in the shade of a parked car. ❷Others drink water with the cows. ❷This all seems random, but it's by design, part of what the $6.1 billion U. S. egg industry bets will be its next big thing: climate-friendly eggs. [2] ®These eggs, which are making their debut now on shelves for as much as $8 a dozen, are still labeled organic and animal­ friendly, but they're also from birds that live on farms using regenerative agriculturepecial techniques to cultivate rich soils that can trap greenhouse gases. ❷Such eggs could be marketed as helping to fight climate change. [3] OT，m excited about our progress,n says Brown, who harvests eggs for Denver-based NestFresh Eggs and is adding more cover crops that draw worms and crickets for the chickens to eat. ❷The birds' waste then fertilizes fields. ❷Such improvements "allow our hens to forage for higher-quality natural feed that will be good for the land, the hens, and the eggs that we supply to our customers." [4] OThe egg industry's push is the first major test of whether animal products from regenerative farms can become the next premium offering. ❷In barely more than a decade, organic eggs went from being dismissed as a niche product in natural foods stores to being sold at Walmart.❸More recently there were similar doubts about probiotics and plant-based meats, but both have exploded into major supermarket categories. Olf the sustainable-egg rollout is successful, it could open the floodgates for regenerative beef, broccoli, and beyond. [5] ORegenerative products could be a hard sell, because the (25) concept is tough to define quickly, says Julie Stanton, associate professor of agricultural economics at Pennsylvania State University Brandywine. ❷Such farming also brings minimal, if any, improvement to the food products (though some producers say their eggs have more protein)・ [6] ®The industry is betting that the same consumers paying more for premium attributes such as free-range, non-GMO, and pasture-raised eggs will embrace sustainability・ ❷Surveys show that younger generations are more concerned about climate change, and some of the success of plant-based meat can be chalked up to shoppers wanting to signal their desire to protect the environment・ ❷Young adults "really care about the planet/9 says John Brunnquell, president of Egg Innovations・❹'"They are absolutely altering the food chain beyond what I think even they understand what they’Te doing." ICT IEI