Lunchtime in Taipei’s Ximending district is a test of wills and patience as tourists and locals jostle at restaurants and street stalls to choose from steamed and fried dumplings, flat and thin noodles, stuffed pancakes, grills and desserts.

午餐时间的台北西门町是对意志力和忍耐力的考验:游客和当地人挤在餐馆里和街边小摊上，在蒸饺和煎饺、宽面和细面、铜锣烧、烧烤和甜点之间做出选择。

In this foodie haven, one item makes only an occasional appearance on menus and on plates – rice.

在这个美食的天堂，有一样东西在菜单和餐盘里很少看到：米饭。

Once a staple of Taiwanese diets, rice consumption per person has fallen more than two-thirds in 50 years, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), as “smart crops” and “super foods” muscle their way onto plates.

据联合国粮食及农业组织(FAO)数据，大米曾是台湾地区日常饮食中的主食，不过近50年来，大米的人均消耗量下降了2/3以上，原因是“智能作物”和“超级食物”的大举流入。

It is the steepest drop in Asia but a trend across the continent as urbanization, rising incomes, climate change and concerns about health and food supplies drive a push for alternatives for the future such as millets and more protein.

这是亚洲在这方面出现的最大跌幅，也是在城镇化、收入上升、气候变化以及对健康和粮食供应的担忧促使人们寻找像小米和更多蛋白质这类未来可替代米饭的其他食物选项之际，亚洲各地正在形成的一种趋势。

“I ate a lot of rice when I was younger but now I eat more vegetables, fish and meat. It’s healthier,” said Guan-Po Lin, 24, who moved to Taipei for university.

去台北上大学的24岁的林关波（音）说：“小时候我吃了很多米饭，但现在，我吃的更多的是蔬菜、鱼和肉。这样的饮食更健康。”

“People are spending more on food, and they want to eat healthy, and rice is not seen as a healthy choice.”

“人们在食物上花的钱比过去更多了，他们想吃得健康，而米饭被认为不是健康的选择。”

About 90 percent of global rice production and consumption is in Asia, home to 60 percent of the world’s population.

亚洲人口占世界总人口的60%，而大米的产量和消耗量却占了90%。

Yet, as trends in Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong show, consumption is set to drop significantly as diets change.

不过，从台湾地区、日本、韩国、和香港的趋势可以看出，随着饮食发生变化，大米的消耗量将会出现大幅下降。

Per capita consumption has fallen about 60 percent in Hong Kong since 1961, and by almost half in Japan. In South Korea, it has slid 41 percent since 1978, FAO data showed.

自1961年以来，香港的大米人均消耗量减少了约60%，日本则减少近一半。根据联合国粮农组织的数据，自1978年以来韩国的大米消耗量减少了41%。

Alongside that the consumption of fish, meat, dairy, fruits and vegetables has risen significantly.

与此同时，鱼、肉、乳制品、水果和蔬菜的消耗量大幅上升。

Rice will still be the single most important crop in the region, key in diets and a symbol of Asian culture, but it will not be as dominant in coming years as new foods are snapped up, said David Dawe, a senior economist at the FAO in Bangkok.

联合国粮农组织驻曼谷的资深经济学家戴维?道说，大米仍将是亚洲地区最重要的一种作物，在饮食中扮演关键角色，也是亚洲文化的象征，不过未来随着新的食物不断涌现，大米将不再占据主导地位。

“It is the future for Asia – well-nourished people who can perform better. You cannot get that by filling up on rice; you need more fish, meat, fruits and vegetables,” he said.

他说：“这是亚洲未来的趋势，营养丰富的人才能表现的更好，只靠米饭来填饱肚子是不能做到这一点的。还需要更多的鱼、肉、水果和蔬菜。”

Rice is said to have first been domesticated in the Yangtze River valley in China more than 10,000 years ago.

据说大米最早于一万多年前在中国的长江流域开始栽培。

In Asia, rice was consumed mostly by the wealthy and did not become as ubiquitous until the Green Revolution of the 1960s, when governments introduced higher yielding seeds and better fertilisers to improve output and feed expanding populations.

在亚洲，大米最初主要供富人消费，直到20世纪60年代“绿色革命”之后才变得普及，当时亚洲各地的政府为了提高水稻产量并养活日益增加的人口，引入了更高产的种子和更优质的化肥。

In Taiwan, millets were the staple of indigenous and rural people, and had a higher status in ritual ceremonies than rice.

在台湾，小米是原住民和农村人的主食，在祭祀仪式上，它的地位高于大米。

In India, malnutrition is one reason the government is pushing millets which are richer in protein, fiber and micronutrients than rice or wheat, said S.K. Gupta, a principal scientist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Hyderabad.

国际半干旱热带作物研究所驻海得拉巴的首席科学家S?K?古普塔说，在印度，营养不良问题是政府推广小米的一个原因，因为它含有的蛋白质、纤维素和微量元素比大米和小麦更为丰富。

Also millets need less water and can grow in saline soil and withstand warmer climate, crucial factors as temperatures and sea levels rise in South Asia.

此外，小米生长时需要的水较少，而且可以长在盐碱地并忍受更热的气候，随着南亚地区温度和海平面的上升，这些因素变得至关重要。

“Historically, a large section of the population was eating millets and maize, but when they moved to urban areas, they switched to rice and wheat,” Gupta said.

古普塔说：“从历史上看，很多人吃的是小米和玉米，但是在他们移居城市以后，他们转而开始食用大米和小麦。”

“Consumers can be encouraged to go back to millets if they are more readily available, and farmers will grow more if they get better prices. It’s already happening,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

他对汤森路透基金会说：“如果小米可以更方便地获取，会促使消费者重新开始食用这种作物，而如果小米的价格更高，农民会种植更多小米。这样的局面已经在出现。”

The shift away from rice in wealthier Asian nations is explained by Bennett’s Law, which argues that as income increases people spend proportionately less on starchy staples such as rice, FAO’s Dawe said.

联合国粮农组织的道说，亚洲富裕地区不再把大米作为主要食物的趋势符合贝内特定律，该定律认为，随着收入的增加，人们消耗的像米饭这种含大量淀粉的主食会大幅减少。

Rice is regarded as inferior when per capita income reaches $2,364 in Asian nations, according to FAO’s estimates.

据粮农组织估计，在亚洲国家的人均收入达到2364美元（约合人民币15089元）时，大米在饮食中的重要性就会降低。

Changes are already evident in mainland China and some southeast Asian countries, where people are eating a more protein-rich diet with more meat and fish, Dawe said.

中国大陆和一些东南亚国家已经明显出现了这样的变化，这里的人们吃的肉和鱼增多了，饮食中的蛋白质更为丰富。

In the Philippines, one of the world’s biggest importers of rice, the government has considered substitutes such as corn, banana, sweet potato, cassava, taro and adlai – an heirloom grain also known as Job’s Tears or Chinese Pearl Barley.

在世界上最大的稻米进口国之一菲律宾，政府考虑用玉米、香蕉、红薯，木薯、芋头和一种被称为“乔布的眼泪”或中国薏米的谷物作为大米的替代物。

At the other end, food companies and chefs are responding to the demand for healthier diets with millets in bread, pasta, even craft beers.

另一方面，食品公司和厨师正在针对顾客对更健康饮食的需求作出回应，将谷物添加到面包、通心粉，甚至手工酿造的啤酒中。

The FAO promotes rice alternatives as “smart crops” to make them more attractive.

联合国粮农组织推广了“智能作物”这样的大米替代物，让它们更具吸引力。

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