英國持續數月通脹高企物價飆升，尤其是新鮮蔬菜水果等健康食品的價格飛漲，民眾只能被迫選擇廉價的加工食品來果腹。

Fresh vegetables and fish are falling off the menu. Packaged pizzas and processed meat are the dishes of the day.

新鮮蔬菜和魚從菜單上消失了。速食披薩和加工肉制品被擺在了飯桌上。

Many British households are turning away from healthier foods as rampant inflation pushes them towards cheaper processed meals, according to consumer data.

消費者數據顯示，惡性通脹迫使許多英國家庭不再選擇健康食品，轉而購買更便宜的加工食品。

Joanne Farrer used to regularly serve her three children roast beef dinners or stews packed with fresh vegetables. Now she's more likely to give them chicken nuggets and fries or sausages and mashed potatoes, which are "cheaper and filling".

喬安妮·法雷爾過去一般給孩子們吃烤牛肉或放了很多鮮蔬的燉菜。如今她常常給孩子們吃炸雞塊、薯條、香腸和土豆泥，這些東西“更便宜而且吃得飽”。

Her monthly welfare payment's mostly swallowed by rent and the rising cost of gas and electricity.

她每月所得的福利金大部分都用于支付房租和漲價的燃氣和電費。

"It doesn't seem like there's light at the end of the tunnel," said the 44-year-old.

這位44歲的母親說道：“隧道的盡頭似乎看不見光亮。”

"You think, when's it going to end? But it's not."

“你想，什么時候是個頭？但卻看不到頭。”

As grocery prices rise across the board, the cost of fresh food has largely been outpacing processed and packaged products, according to the official UK consumer price index (CPI).

官方公布的英國消費者價格指數顯示，隨著食品雜貨價格全面上漲，新鮮食品的價格大多比加工和包裝食品價格漲得更快。

Prices for fresh vegetables rose about 14% in September versus the same month last year earlier for example, while fresh beef also jumped 14%, fish 15%, poultry 17%, eggs 22% and low-fat milk 42%.

舉例而言，9月份新鮮蔬菜價格同比上漲約14%，鮮牛肉同比上漲14%，魚肉上漲15%，家禽肉17%，雞蛋22%，低脂牛奶42%。

Meanwhile, salted or smoked meat such as bacon and crisps went up a slower pace of about 12% each, packaged pizzas rose nearly 10%, sugary snacks like gummies increased by 6% and chocolate increased by just over 3%.

與此同時，培根和酥肉等腌肉或熏肉價格上漲較慢，漲幅約為12%，速食披薩漲價近10%，橡皮軟糖等甜食漲價6%，巧克力價格漲幅略高于3%。

Shopping habits are changing too, according to exclusive data from NielsenIQ. Volume sales of fresh vegetables fell by more than 6% and fresh meat by over 7% in August, for example, while sales of snacks and candy rose almost 4%.

資訊平臺NielsenIQ的獨家數據發現，民眾的購物習慣也在改變。舉例來說，8月份新鮮蔬菜的銷量下降超6%，鮮肉銷量下降超7%，零食和糖果銷量卻增加了近4%。

"There is plenty of evidence that poor diets lacking in fruit and vegetables have serious consequences for health," said Shona Goudie, policy research manager at the Food Foundation, a British charity that promotes healthy diets.

推廣健康飲食的英國慈善機構食品基金會的政策研究經理肖娜·古迪說：“有很多證據表明，缺乏水果蔬菜的不良飲食會給健康帶來嚴重后果。”

"We also know that cheap highly processed foods are the ones most likely to cause obesity."

“我們也知道，廉價的高度加工食品最易導致肥胖。”

Packaged food products often contain unhealthy levels of salt, fat and sugar, plus flavour-enhancers and preservative chemicals to give them longer shelf lives, and are associated with higher risks of obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancers.

包裝食品通常含有過量的鹽、脂肪和糖，而且還會添加風味增強劑和延長保質期的防腐劑，從而導致患肥胖癥、心臟病、2型糖尿病和某些癌癥的風險增高。

Britain is already near the forefront of an "obesity epidemic" across Europe, where almost 60% of adults are overweight or obese, raising their risk of premature death and serious disease, according to a World Health Organization report in May.

根據世界衛生組織5月的報告，英國本來就在席卷歐洲的“肥胖浪潮”中領跑，近60%的成年人超重或肥胖，這提高了他們早逝或患重病的風險。

Fresh food has become more expensive because it is more energy intensive to produce than packaged food.

新鮮食品變得更貴，因為生產新鮮食品比生產包裝食品需要消耗更多能量。

For some, the consequences of rising prices are dire.

對于某些人來說，食品漲價的后果很嚴重。

Close to 10 million adults - or one in five households - are unable to put enough food on the table, with some skipping meals or going without for an entire day, Food Foundation's nationwide survey carried out in late September suggests.

食品基金會9月底開展的全國調查顯示，近1000萬成年人（五分之一英國家庭）吃不飽飯，有些人少吃飯或一整天都不吃飯。

Sharron Spice, a London-based youth worker, said people visiting food banks had stopped requesting fresh food because they worried about having to use gas or electricity to cook it.

倫敦青年工作者莎倫·斯派斯說，去食物銀行領飯的人不再索要新鮮食物，因為他們擔心要用燃氣或電來烹飪。

She added that many parents would go for buy-one-get-one-free deals in supermarkets: "Cheap food like pizza and everything that's unhealthy for you, basically."

她還表示，許多父母會選擇超市里“買一贈一”的食品：“基本都是披薩等廉價食品和不健康的食物。”

The country is not alone in facing an inflation crisis. More than half of consumers in the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands have cut down on essentials, such as food, driving and heating, according to a poll by market research firm IRI this month.

市場調研公司 IRI 本月的民調顯示，英國不是唯一一個遭遇通脹危機的國家。英國、法國、西班牙、德國、意大利和荷蘭超半數消費者都減少了食品、駕車、取暖等必需的開支。

英文來源：路透社

翻譯&編輯：丹妮