There has been a new trend①in food-shifting away from fast food and moving toward"slow food".
For decades， the pace of life has been increasing for most people. The trouble involved in buying， preparing and cleaning up after a meal was becoming more bother than it was worth-apparently. Fortunately， there were smart business people who took the opportunity to provide "instant②" solutions to the problem. Almost overnight， you could drop by the supermarket and buy complete (but raw) meals on a styrofoam③ tray④ with plastic wrapped over them. All you had to do was to drop it in a hot wok (after unwrapping it) and you could be eating a scrumptious⑤ (but less than healthy) meal in 5 minutes. Just add salt.
Is it still too slow？ OK， just drive your car up to the fast-food restaurant， order your grease-soaked meal and within 2 minutes it will be handed over to you. With salt.
The problem is health. Fast food has much more oil， salt and empty calories and far less vitamins than food freshly prepared at home. And so， since people have always wanted to live longer and healthier， a small but growing population is choosing not only fresh food， but also organically grown food-food that hasn’t been grown with chemical fertilizers or insecticides⑥.
Another reason for changes in eating habits is undoubtedly social. Over the centuries， meal times have been used to visit， laugh and learn. That doesn’t fit with today’s hectic lifestyle and many people are looking for ways to restore that.
Finally， there’s something unique about planning your meal， buying just the right ingredients⑦ and seeing something on your table that looks just like the picture in your recipe book. A culinary Rembrandt！ So if you’re too busy， maybe it’s time you slowed down and enjoyed a meal with a friend.
① trendn. 趋势，倾向；时尚
② instantadj.立即的，即刻的
③ styrofoamn. 泡沫塑料；聚苯乙烯
④ trayn. 盘子，托盘
⑤ scrumptiousadj. ［口］绝妙的；极好的
⑥ insecticiden. 杀虫剂
⑦ ingredientn.(混合物的)组成部分；(烹调的)原料
慢“食”出细“活”
饮食方面出现了一种新趋势，即远离“快餐”，转向“慢餐”。
近几十年来，大多数人的生活节奏变快，工作繁忙，他们常为做饭洗碗等事烦恼不已。幸好，聪明的商家抓住时机推出“方便食品”解决了问题。几乎在一夜之间，你就能从超市里买到装在泡沫聚苯乙烯盘子上，外面裹着塑料包装的现成生料。把它倒进热锅里，五分钟后，你就能开始动口了。只需要加点盐即可！
还是太慢？好吧，开车到一家快餐店，点份油腻腻的食物，两分钟左右，饭就会送上来。而且已经放了盐！
然而健康是个问题。与在家里现做的饭菜相比，快餐通常含有太多的油脂、食盐和净热量，缺少维生素。由于人人都想健康长寿，于是，有一小部分人(正在增多)开始不但注意食品是否新鲜，还要看是否有机(没有使用过化肥和杀虫剂的食品)。
饭食习惯改变的另一个原因无疑是社会因素。几个世纪以来，吃饭时间一直被用来相互拜访、娱乐和学习。这与当今的紧张生活方式一点都不符，许多人正在找办法使之恢复原貌。
最后，在规划一餐、购买配料以及欣赏餐桌上与烹调书上一模一样的美景时，感觉真是妙不可言。好一幅伦布兰特的厨房画！如果真的很忙，不妨放慢节拍，找位朋友一起津津有味地吃上一顿吧！