World hunger is an imminent threat to billions of people nowadays. In 2009, there are over 1,000,000,000 people suffering from starvation. The UN named 2008 the International Year of Potato.  The potato has become a key component in strategies aimed at providing nutritious food for the poor and hungry.  Potatoes can grow where land is limited and labour is abundant, conditions that characterize much of the developing world. It is a nutritious vegetable that can grow faster, on smaller plots of land, and in harsher climates than any other major crop.  Up to 85% of the plant is edible human food, compared to around 50% in cereals. 

世界粮食危机正威胁着亿万人的生命。2009年一年，有逾10亿的人口遭受着饥饿的折磨。土豆，作为解决办法之一，被越来越多人做成佳肴端上了餐桌。联合国甚至把2008年定为世界马铃薯年，并将它视为对抗饥馑和营养不良的利器。土豆适宜在土地稀少劳力繁多的地方种植，而这符合大多数发展中国家的情况。它培育时间短，营养含量高，占用土地少，环境适应性比任何主要作物都强。其全株85%可以食用，而谷类植物可食用部分仅占50%。

Amy Charkowski, is an important figure in the potato growing industry in the U.S. She is the Administrative Director of the Wisconsin Seed Potato Certification Program, which plays a big role in the $120 million potato sales each year in the U.S. Dr. Charkowski’s involvement in the Lelah Starks Elite Foundation Seed Potato Farm keeps her in regular contact with farmers, industry representatives, and regulatory officials.  Dr. Charkowski is a professor at the University of Wisconsin, where she leads a lab.  Recently, her lab has initiated projects focused on production of organic seed potatoes and control of Potato virus Y, which is one of the most dangerous viruses that threaten potato production.  What motivates Dr. Charkowski is “the chance that some of what [the lab] does might help feed people.”  

我采访的Amy Charkowski便是一位对美国的土豆生产有着重要作用的人物。她掌管威斯康辛种用马铃薯认证计划（美国1.2亿美元的马铃薯买卖可溯源于此计划）和Lelah Starks Elite Foundation种用马铃薯农场（年预算85万美元）。为此，她频繁与农户，产业代表和相关官员们接触。同时，她在威斯康辛大学做教授，领导一个实验室，关注于生产有机种用马铃薯和防控马铃薯病毒Y（世界上第二大马铃薯杀手）。如上，她的工作就是提高马铃薯生产。而当谈到她为何选择这样的事业时，她说：“我们有机会用我们的成果喂养人们，这就足以激励人心了。”

Being one of the few scientists in the U.S. administering a production farm and regulatory program, it is a challenge to transform her study into application needs. “It takes a much greater effort (and some luck!) to improve agriculture than to make new discoveries in basic research areas because agriculture involves biology, politics, and business and every change made must fit in with the local requirements of business and politics as well as the biology of the crop.” Her optimism has encouraged her to continue her work. “I try to see it as a challenge. It makes the success seem so much sweeter since it takes so much work!” 

即使对于她这样一名全美为数不多的身兼主持农场和管理认证项目任务的科学家来说，想将她的科研转化为应用是不大容易的。“想要提高农业生产要费很大的劲（外加一些运气），即使想提高一点，也比在基础领域做出新的发现要难。因为农业涉及生物，政治和商业，任何改变必须即符合当地的商业和政治需求还符合作物本身的生物特性。”不过，她的乐观主义支持着她：“我把这看作是挑战。付出的辛劳如此之多，成功的喜悦更加甜美~”

She is trying her best to help people domestically and abroad. “I have diagnosised plant diseases so that growers would know what control options they have, changed regulations to better suit farmers' needs, and helped provide new potato varieties and clean seed potatoes to growers in the U.S. and elsewhere. I am trying to focus my laboratory and field research more toward helping farmers both at home and in other countries. For example, this year we will train visitors in potato production and pathogen detection methods from two or three countries, like Ethiopia and Kuwait.”  
 

她帮助国内外的人们。“我曾帮助种植者诊断作物的病情，这样他们就知道了自己的防控选择；我改善过规章条例以更好的迎合农民的需求；我还为美国和其他地方的农民们提供全新种类的土豆以及干净的种用马铃薯。”“我在尝试将实验室和田野研究的重点放在帮助国内外的农民上。举例来说，今年我们将帮助2、3个国家，例如埃塞俄比亚和科威特，训练他们的来访者如何种植马铃薯，并教给他们探测植物病的方法。”

Dr. Charkowski is grateful for her family’s support. “I have a very understanding and supportive husband, which is extremely helpful. He also helps keep me from getting too involved with work and helps me remember that I need to have a life outside of potatoes.” Being a woman in this field has not created any obstacles in her career. 

她感激家庭的支持。“我的老公理解我支持我，他对我的帮助极其大。他提醒我不要对工作走火入魔，劝我要在土豆之外也有生活。”身为一名女性，她的事业并没有受到什么影响，只是有时候女儿会抱怨陪她的时间太少了。夜深了，我的受访者也下线了，她说她要陪她女儿睡觉去了。

I enjoyed my conversation with Professor Charkowski. Her honesty and frankness reflects her modesty as a scientist. She alone cannot save the world and eliminate world hunger by herself. I have learned, from my own research, that poor infrastructure, high energy price, climate change and the development of bioenergy all jeopardize food production. And a country’s agriculture policy can also affect food production both at home and abroad. All in all, we have a long way to go to solve world hunger. Let’s persevere through the world food crisis hand in hand!

与Charkowski教授谈话非常愉快，她的坦诚折射着她作为一名朴素的科学家的特质。然而，作为个人，她的贡献是有限的。单枪匹马并不能拯救这个世界。世界还受饥馑困扰，食不果腹者大有人在。我曾根据几份联合国的报告大概研究了一下世界粮食危机，潦倒的基础设施建设，居高不下的能源价格，气候变化和生物能源都损害着粮食的生产。另外，国家的粮食政策，也会影响本国和他国农民的种粮积极性，造成全球范围粮食减产。想解决世界粮食危机，很显然，我们还任重而道远。让我们个人，国家和国际社会通力合作，最终消灭饥馑。

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