《中英對照讀新聞》British farmers warn loss of EU workers will see strawberry prices soar 英國農夫警告 少了歐盟勞工 草莓價格將飆漲

◎孫宇青

The price of British strawberries could rise by more than a third if the UK cannot ensure access to European workers after Brexit, farmers have warned.

農民警告，如果英國不能確保歐盟勞工在脫歐後赴英工作的管道，國產草莓的價格可能會飆漲3分之1。

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Producers have called on the government to introduce a permit scheme for seasonal workers to ensure that the expansion of soft fruit production in the UK is not brought to a halt.

生產商呼籲政府推行季節性勞工方案，確保英國軟皮無核水果產量的成長不至於中斷。

Farmers say the number of seasonal workers coming to the UK this year has already dropped by 17%, due to the lack of clarity on the future for EU workers in post-Brexit Britain.

農民表示，由於歐盟勞工在英國脫歐後的前景未明，今年來到英國的季節性勞工數量已減少17％。

Farmers also say access to EU workers is vital to sustain the industry, as 9 out of 10 seasonal pickers and packers of British soft fruit currently come from the European Union, primarily Poland, Bulgaria and Romania.

農民還說，引進歐盟勞工對維持產業運作極為重要，因為目前英國軟皮無核水果產業的季節性採摘和包裝工人，10人裡有9人來自以波蘭、保加利亞和羅馬尼亞為主的歐盟國家。

The soft fruit industry is one of the UK’s biggest users of EU seasonal labor as it is harder to mechanize the handling of its delicate and tricky-to-pick produce. These warnings echo those of the wider farming community.

軟皮無核水果產業是英國廣納歐盟季節性勞工的主要產業之一，由於該產業的農產品嬌貴、採摘不易，很難採行機械化作業。上述警告也引起農業領域中更多產業的共鳴。

新聞辭典

call on：動詞片語，呼籲；請求。例句：The management committee called on residents to join the discussion vigorously.（管理委員會呼籲住戶熱烈參與討論。）

mechanize：動詞，機械化。例句：The government seeks to mechanize its farming industry.（政府嘗試推行農業機械化。）

produce：名詞，農產品。例句：Having fresh produce every day is one of the benefits of living in the countryside.（住在鄉下的好處之一，就是可以每天享用新鮮農產品。）