亲爱的经济学家，

Dear Economist,

在采购易腐食品时，我会寻找那些距离保质到期时间最远的商品，尽管我往往也会立即把它们吃掉。因此，在打算消费时，我常常会略过那些即将到期的商品，优先考虑保质期更长的商品。我是否应该受到浪费的指责，因为我没有购买可接受的保存时间最短的商品，从而增加了它们无法被售出的可能性？

When purchasing perishable¹ food items I look for those that have the longest "use by" date, even if I intend to consume them immediately. As a result I often bypass items that will be within their "use by" date when I intend consuming them, in preference for items with an even longer shelf life. Can I be accused of being wasteful² by not purchasing items with the shortest acceptable shelf life, since I am increasing the likelihood that they remain unsold?

你真诚的，

Yours sincerely,

安德鲁，来自伦敦

Andrew, London


亲爱的安德鲁，

Dear Andrew,

我几乎可以肯定地认为，责备不应落到你的身上。相反，过错在于食品零售商缺乏想象力的静态定价方式。它们以同样的价格提供给你两种不同的产品，你不过是选择了更好、更新鲜的那种。

I hardly think the blame can be laid at your doorstep. The fault, instead, is with the unimaginatively static pricing on the part of the food retailers³. They are presenting you with two different products at the same price, and you are simply choosing the better, fresher offering.

的确，如果你打算马上就把食品吃掉，你赋予更新鲜产品的价值，也许会低于某个打算买下这个产品过几周再消费的人赋予它的价值。

It is true that if you plan to eat the food immediately, the value you place on the fresher product might be lower than the value to someone who planned to buy it and leave it sitting around for a couple of weeks.

另一方面，许多人不会核实日期，因为他们根本不在乎。如果他们以牺牲你的利益获得了更新鲜的产品，这将是一个遗憾。

On the other hand, many people don't check the dates because they don't care. It would be a shame if they got the fresher product at your expense.

因此，理想的状况是，零售商应根据食品的新鲜程度调整价格，随着时间的过去而小幅下调价格，直到保质期临近时再大幅削价。像你这样崇尚新鲜的人会乐于支付更高价格，而学生、靠补助金生活的人以及电脑程序员们则会买下最廉价的产品，刮去霉斑。 Ideally, then, retailers would adjust their prices to reflect the staleness of the food, with the price declining very slightly over time, before being slashed⁴ as the "use by" date approaches. Freshness fetishists like you would gladly pay more, while students, pensioners⁵ and computer programmers would scoop⁶ up the cheapest products and scrape off the mould.

产品将会根据对新鲜程度的偏好进行有效配置。让超市跟上这一趋势只是时间的问题。

Products would be allocated⁷ efficiently⁸ according to preferences for freshness. It can only be a matter of time before the supermarkets catch on.