4/24 (Wed.) 〜 4/26 (Fri.)

実践ビジネス英語　　　Wednesday, April 24

1) Pearson says vertical farms are appearing throughout the United States and a company in upstate New York is doing very well selling equipment to vertical farmers both inside and outside the country. He says vertical farms don't need to use pesticides if they are indoors, which makes their food organic. Umemura says one advocate of vertical farming claims a good farm can produce 20 crops a year.

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Vertical Farming (4)

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2) when it comes to: This means regarding or when the situation involves something. For example: "Vivian is not good 'when it comes to’ public speaking." Or "Company X is the best 'when it comes to' laser printers."

3) catch on: To become popular, in other words, to be taken up, things like, "This new social media site has really 'caught on' among teenagers." Or "Our new product just didn't 'catch on' among consumers."

4) to the extent that: So much so that, in other words. For example, "She is obsessed with social media 'to the extent that' she's secretly posting at work." Or "He's been late a lot 'to the extent that' the might get fired."

5) It can also mean "as much as." For example, "I'm surprised this product sold 'to the extent that' it did.

6) upstate New York: We use "upstate" to refer to the northern part of a state, "upstate Washington," "upstate Nevada." Now, I looked in a dictionary and found "downstate." But I personally have never used this, and so I can't speak to how common it is.

7) do a booming business: A "booming business" is flourishing greatly. It's very successful. We also say "business is booming." For example, "'Business is booming' at that new restaurant. The wafting list is three weeks long."

8) get the organic seal of approval: "Seal of approval" can mean a formal endorsement or certification. Food safety authorities might officially certify vertical produce as organic, for example. But it can also be used metaphorically, such as, "Our new marketing plan has 'gotten the board's seal of approval.'" Or "Consumers have 'given a new tablet computer their seal of approval' with strong sales right from the start."

9) put down roots: If a plant sends its roots into the soil, it's going to stay there. It's going to stay in that place. So we use "put down roots" to mean settle in a certain place. Do things to make that place your permanent home. For example, "He's 'put down some serious roots" taking out a big loan to buy a house."

10) in the long run: From a long-term perspective, over a long period of time. For example, "LEDs are more expensive than conventional bulbs. But they save money 'in the long run.'"

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実践ビジネス英語　　　Thursday, April 24

1) Pearson says critics are especially disparaging of indoor vertical farms, because of the amount of energy they use on grow lights. Collins predicts that vertical farming could solve the possible problem of insufficient land as the world population grows. And Pearson describes how American agribusiness is increasingly prosperous now. Umemura says a major Japanese electronics company is using its LED lights to grow strawberries in the Middle East.

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Vertical Farming (5)

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2) be down on: Be critical of, Pearson means, things like "Consumers 'are especially down on' the phone's short battery life." Or "Our boss 'was really down on' our missed deadlines last month."

3) To "get someone down" is to depress them, make them feel blue, such as "It really 'gets me down' when I accidentally erase the file, all that work gone." All that work's gone."

4) cancel out: This means eliminate the effect of something, render it void, offset it. For example, "The money he saves by renting a cheap apartment is 'canceled out" by his spending on clothes."

5) run out of: When we "run out of" something, we don't have any more left, things like, "We've 'run out of' paper in the printer. We need some more." Or "The report is not perfect but I've 'run out of' time. I need to turn it in today."

6) arable land: "Arable land" is capable of growing crops. It's fit for cultivation.
The opposite would be "non-arable land." "Most of that country's land is not 'arable,' so it has to import almost all its food."

7) ultra-competitive: Here, "ultra" is a prefix meaning extremely. "A central bank might maintain 'ultra-low' interest rates to stimulate investment." Or you could say, "The company is developing 'ultra-small' computers."

8) take a serious look at: They are seriously considering, in other words. They are seriously examining the possibility. A friend of mine is 'taking a serious look at'
retiring to Arizona. He may buy a condo there.

9) get dirt under one's fingernails: We also say "get one's hands dirty," which means doing the parts of a job that are unpleasant or that involve hard practical work. For example, "Our boss doesn't mind 'getting his hands dirty.' He packed boxes and carried them when we removed just like everybody else."

10) application: Umemura means the company has found a new way to use its LED lights to put them to use. You might also say, "She is 'applying' her writing skills
to improving the company's website."

11) growth business: This is pretty straightforward, a growth business is growing, it's expanding. "I bet online on demand video is a "growth business," for example.

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実践ビジネス英語　　　Friday, April 25

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Vertical Farming (6)

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1[S]: In our current vignette, the H&B staffers talk about vertical farming, a practice of growing food in multistory facilities. Advocates of vertical farming believe it can address many problems, facing modern society including the world's growing population.

2[H]: Yes. I have to admit, I didn't know much about vertical farming before this, and it's been an intriguing subject to look into. Intriguing and a bit unsettling. Apparently, the world's population will increase to about 9.2 billion by the year 2050, and many experts say there could be serious shortages of both food and arable land if drastic measures aren't taken.

It reminded me of a famous science fiction film from the 1970s. The movie depicts earth in 2022 as massively overcrowded and fresh food is extremely rare and expensive. You just hope we are not heading for something like that in reality.

3[S]: The vignette also mentions how urban based vertical farming can benefit the environment by reducing how far produce has to be delivered.

4[H]: Yes. Proponents say this would make agriculture more of a closed system with everything from cultivation to waste disposal taking place in the same metropolitan areas. This would essentially eliminate the pollution created by shipping foods across long distances.

I was surprised to learn that food travels an average of 2,400 kilometers from fields to the dinner table. It can be much more in colder weather, when produce has to be flown in from tropical locations.

Advocates say that crops could be tailored to each local community, and land that was used for horizontal farming could go back to be in forests. They say that would rejuvenate various species, reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and create a lot of beautiful areas for tourism and recreation.

5[S]: But the H&B staffers also touch on concerns about how the high energy consumption of indoor vertical farms might negate the benefits of reduced shipping.

6[H]: Right. But this is something that many vertical farms are actively working to address. They are trying to utilize things like renewable energy systems and smart grids to cut back on the power use. I read that one vertical farming business in America is planning to use something called an aerobic digester. It would gather things like leftover pant roots to generate power. And they are hoping to eventually power the entire system with the 5,000 tons of bio-waste they generate every year.

7[S]: We also hear that things are looking up for American agribusiness, right?

8[H]: Once again, I have to admit that I wasn't aware of this either, but yes, indeed, agriculture appears to be booming in America. The Department of Agriculture predicted that net farm income would reach a record $128.2 billion in 2013. That's the highest level in 40 years.

As a result, graduates of agricultural collages, Aggies as we call them in my university, are enjoying a robust job market and enrollment at such colleges is way up. Science and technology skills are particularly valuable. In fields such as plant sciences, companies are reportedly struggling to find all the personnel they need.

【原稿チェック： Cecile, Hiromi】
【ディクテーション： Sanae】