COLORADO SPRINGS – When a caterer working for the United States Olympic Committee went to a supermarket in China last year, he encountered a piece of chicken – half of a breast – that measured 35 centimeters. “Enough to feed a family of eight,” said Frank Puleo, a caterer from Staten Island, New York, who has traveled to China to handle food-related issues.
去年，美國奧會伙食採辦員法蘭克‧普雷奧在中國大陸一家超市裡，看到一塊長35公分的半胸雞肉。他說：「足夠一家八口人食用。」普雷奧是紐約史坦登島的外燴業者，去年前往中國大陸考察，是為了處理與食物有關的事情。

“We had it tested and it was so full of steroids that we never could have given it to athletes. They all would have tested positive.”
他說：「我們檢驗後發現，這塊半胸雞肉滿是類固醇。我們根本不可能讓我們的運動員吃這種東西。檢測結果必須符合標準。」

In preparing to take a delegation of more than 600 athletes to the Summer Games in Beijing this year, the U.S.O.C. faces food issues beyond steroid-laced chicken. In recent years, some foods in China have been found to be tainted with insecticides and illegal veterinary drugs, and the standards applied to meat there are lower than those in the United States, raising fears of food-borne illnesses.
在率領600多名運動員參加北京奧運之前，美國奧會面臨的食物問題，不止於雞肉可能含有類固醇這一樁。最近幾年來，中國大陸有些食物被發現遭殺蟲劑及非法獸醫藥物汙染，中國大陸通行的肉類安全標準並低於美國，引起食物可能致病的疑慮。

In the past two years, the U.S.O.C. has tried to figure out how to avoid such dangers at the Olympics. It has made arrangements with sponsors like Kellogg’s and Tyson Foods, which will ship 11,000 kilograms of lean protein to China about two months before the opening ceremony, but will hire local vendors and importers to secure other foods and cooking equipment at the Games.
兩年來，美國奧會不斷設想如何在北京奧運期間避免這種危險。它已與家樂氏、泰森食品等贊助廠商談妥，在北京奧運開幕前大約兩個月，將1萬1000多公斤的精益蛋白質運到中國大陸，另外並雇用當地特定的供貨商及進口商，以確保北京奧運期間其他食物及烹飪器具安全無虞。

The bulk of that food will be served at the U.S.O.C.’s training center at Beijing Normal University, about 20 minutes from the Olympic Green, where for the first time United States athletes will have access to their own facility providing three meals a day. The dishes served will be compliant with the U.S.O.C.’s overhauled diet plan, placing a greater emphasis on nutrition, which officials hope will boost athletes’ performance.
主要用餐地點是北京師範大學的美國奧會訓練中心。該校距離奧林匹克公園大約廿分鐘車程。在這裡，美國運動員將首次有機會享用美國設施提供的每日三餐，供應的菜色完全符合美國奧會徹底修改過的飲食指定計畫，更注重營養。官員期望據以提高運動員在競賽場上的表現。

The diet plan is already in place for the athletes residing at each of the three United States training centers – here and in Chula Vista, California, and Lake Placid, New York. And the organization is urging all United States athletes to be aware of what they ingest. Under the World Anti-Doping Agency’s drug-testing code, athletes are responsible for whatever is in their bodies, regardless of the source.
這項計畫已針對進駐科羅拉多州泉市、加州丘拉維斯塔、紐約州寧靜湖三地訓練中心的美國運動員實施。美國奧會已提醒全體美國運動員注意飲食。按照「世界反運動禁藥組織」的藥物檢測規定，運動員必須為體內檢出的一切負責，無論來源如何。

Much of the dietary strategy falls to Jacque Hamilton, the executive chef of the U.S.O.C. She has consulted with dietitians and sous chefs over the past year and a half to modify more than 1,500 recipes and prepare to serve about 700 meals a day at the U.S.O.C.’s training center in Beijing. Many countries do not have the resources for a training center in Beijing, but those that do may choose to serve their own food as well.
這項飲食策略主要由美國奧會行政總主廚賈姬‧漢米爾頓負責。過去一年半以來，她多方徵詢營養學者及名廚的意見，據以修正1500多樣食物的烹調法，準備每天在北京的美國奧會訓練中心供餐約700份。許多國家缺少在北京設置訓練中心的必要資源，而擁有這些資源的國家可能選擇自行供餐。

Ms. Hamilton has lowered sodium, decreased fats and eliminated trans fats – even from rich dishes like macaroni and cheese and rice pudding – while preserving the flavor.
漢米爾頓女士把食物中鈉和脂肪的含量降低了，反式脂肪更完全剔除，就連通心粉、乳酪和大米布丁這些高熱量、重口味的菜式也無一例外，但保留了它們的原味。

There were no signs of junk food in the dining hall on a recent afternoon at the Olympic Training Center here, but that does not necessarily mean athletes would be banished if they ate any. Adam Korzun, a dietitian who will be traveling to Beijing to ensure that every meal follows the nutritional standards, said no foods were forbidden.
在最近一個午後參觀科羅拉多州泉市的美國奧運訓練中心時，餐廳並未出現垃圾食物，不過這並不意味如果運動員食用任何垃圾食物，就必定被美國奧會除名。營養專家亞當‧柯桑屆時將隨同美國奧運代表團前往北京，確保美國運動員的每一餐都能符合營養標準。他說，美國奧會並未特別禁止任何食物。

“It’s all a matter of how and when you work it into your diet,” he said.
他表示：「關鍵是，你如何及何時吃它。」

Sometimes, the athletes do not have a choice. Mr. Korzun recounted several times when teams competing in foreign countries were presented with culinary challenges. The triathlon team encountered a dish called “Be Dental Alveoli Quick to Salad Bangkok Hot Paddle Fish,” during a meet in Thailand. And the men’s weight lifting team was served barbecued guinea pig before a competition in Peru.
有時候，運動員毫無選擇。柯桑回憶道，前往國外參賽的運動代表隊曾經多次面對飲食挑戰。鐵人三項運動代表隊曾經在泰國參加比賽時，遇到一道名為「Be Dental Alveoli Quick to Salad Bangkok Hot Paddle Fish」的菜色；男子舉重隊曾在秘魯參賽前，碰到烤天竺鼠。

In preparation for the Olympics, Tyson will ship beef, chicken and pork to China. When the food arrives, customs agents will review the shipment – the U.S.O.C. has budgeted 10 days to complete this process – before it is delivered to U.S.O.C. representatives and taken to a holding site at Beijing Normal University. The food will remain there for about three weeks until athletes arrive.
為迎接北京奧運，泰森食品公司準備為美國運動員送去牛肉、雞肉、豬肉。食物運到後，中國大陸的海關人員將檢查貨物，再將它們送交美國奧會的代表，最後再送到北京師大儲存大約三個星期，直到美國運動員抵達。美國奧會預計檢查需時10天。

“The security is so tight that there is pre-screening before it even gets to me,” said Terri Moreman, the U.S.O.C.’s associate director of food and nutrition services.
美國奧會食物與營養服務部門副主任泰莉‧莫爾曼表示：「我們做到滴水不漏。甚至在送到我手上之前，都得先接受檢查。」

For more than a year, a delegation that includes Mr. Puleo and Ms. Moreman has traveled periodically to China to explore food-related issues. While there, they meet with potential vendors and importers, locate Western-style kitchen equipment and, in some cases, plan how to procure items that Americans may take for granted.
一年多以來，由普里奧、莫爾曼等人組成的美國代表團定期前往中國大陸，考察與食物有關的問題，會晤當地可能合作的供貨商及進口商，尋找西式廚房設備，有時候甚至得規畫如何取得美國人認為稀鬆平常的東西。

The U.S.O.C. will send measuring cups because, as Ms. Hamilton noted, the United States does not use the metric system. Finding molasses, they learned, is next to impossible. Ice? Also a challenge.
美國奧會將使用自己的量杯，因為誠如漢米爾頓所說，美國不採公制。美國奧會官員明白，找到糖漿幾乎不可能。冰塊？也是挑戰。

“When I told them that we’ll need about 6,000 pounds a day, they think the translation’s wrong,” Mr. Puleo said. “Actually, we’ll need much more than that.”
普雷奧表示：「當我告訴他們，我們每天大約需要6000磅（2700公斤）時，他們以為是口譯之誤。事實上，我們需要的比這多得多。」

原文參見
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/09/sports/othersports/09olympics.html
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/09/sports/09olympics.php 

2008-02-28/聯合報/C3版/教育 陳世欽 原文請見2月25日紐時周報二版頭條