You can change the world three times a day | Laura Lesueur | TEDxEDHECBusinessSchool
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0:17 - 0:19What if I told you
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0:19 - 0:23that you can have a direct impact
on a world major issue -
0:23 - 0:26that today results in dramatical effects?
-
0:27 - 0:29The issue I have in mind
-
0:29 - 0:33is responsible for one death
out of five around us. -
0:33 - 0:36It's killing more people
than tobacco does. -
0:36 - 0:38The issue I have in mind
-
0:38 - 0:42is destroying our culture
and education. -
0:42 - 0:46The issue I have in mind
is the cause of too many suicides -
0:46 - 0:50and keeps expanding years after years.
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0:51 - 0:56The issue I have in mind
is destroying our environment. -
0:57 - 1:01I am talking about
our industrial food system. -
1:02 - 1:07But the good news is
we all can do something about it - -
1:07 - 1:09you ... me ...
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1:09 - 1:11... all of us,
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1:11 - 1:13three times a day.
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1:13 - 1:17I was born and raised in Paris.
So I'm definitely a city girl. -
1:17 - 1:21However, when I was a kid,
during week-ends and holidays, -
1:21 - 1:23my parents used to take me
to the countryside -
1:24 - 1:27in this very small village of Picardie.
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1:27 - 1:29I remember spending my time
around there in Nature -
1:29 - 1:31playing in the farms with kids
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1:31 - 1:35whose parents were the farmers
cultivating the fields around us. -
1:36 - 1:39We had outside the house
a vegetable garden and a chicken coop. -
1:39 - 1:43So I was literally picking up the eggs
and tomatoes in the morning, -
1:43 - 1:47and I had them the same
evening for dinner in my plate. -
1:48 - 1:52I didn't realize at the time
that this was so important. -
1:53 - 1:57Real fact: today, we have many
citizen kids who are asking -
1:57 - 2:02what is the name of the tree
that is producing French fries. -
2:03 - 2:06This may sound cute from a kid.
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2:06 - 2:08But it's a disaster.
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2:09 - 2:13It's a disaster when you don't know
anymore what is the link -
2:13 - 2:16between what you have in your plate
that will go into your body, -
2:16 - 2:19and where it comes from.
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2:19 - 2:21It's a proof of disconnection
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2:21 - 2:25between the Earth
we live on and our lives. -
2:25 - 2:28And the kids are not
the only one concerned. -
2:28 - 2:31So, do we know what we eat?
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2:31 - 2:33Do you know what you eat?
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2:33 - 2:35Let's take an example.
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2:36 - 2:41Could you tell me how many ingredients
you can find in this industrial soft bread -
2:41 - 2:45that I am sure some of you may
have had this morning for breakfast? -
2:45 - 2:51Water, cereal, oil, salt, sugar,
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2:51 - 2:55and about thirteen
other different ingredients. -
2:55 - 2:56Yeah, you heard me right.
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2:56 - 3:01You can find up to 18 different
ingredients in industrial soft bread. -
3:01 - 3:04And believe me, you don't
want to know their names. -
3:04 - 3:07Well, I could have taken a worse example
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3:07 - 3:11like the lasagnas with horse meat inside,
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3:11 - 3:15or the eggs with fipronil,
or milk with salmonella. -
3:15 - 3:21Anyway, this is just the tiny tip
of the iceberg we have in front of us. -
3:23 - 3:27We completely forgot
the story of our food, -
3:27 - 3:30how it is made,
where it comes from. -
3:31 - 3:34We forgot that behind
each and every product, -
3:34 - 3:38there is a story of a man or a woman.
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3:38 - 3:40We forgot about this story
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3:40 - 3:44because industrials are making
our food anonymous. -
3:44 - 3:49And worse, we are being told
fake stories to make us sleepy. -
3:49 - 3:54And as we forgot, we started
destroying our planet and our health -
3:54 - 3:56years after years.
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3:57 - 4:02We need to stop killing
what is making us live. -
4:02 - 4:06Intensive agriculture
can't produce without destroying. -
4:06 - 4:09Every year, 20 million
hectares of farmlands -
4:09 - 4:13are becoming unusable
because of intensive farming practices. -
4:13 - 4:16And look at what is happening
with the production of palm oil -
4:16 - 4:19that many industrials
are putting in their products. -
4:20 - 4:23We know that palm oil
production is massively killing -
4:23 - 4:27the ecosystem and its species
in Indonesia and Malaysia. -
4:27 - 4:31In this area, deforestation
is accelerating at a terrible speed. -
4:32 - 4:35Between 2011 and 2013,
-
4:35 - 4:38more than 6 million hectares
of forest have been burnt -
4:38 - 4:42which represents the size
of a country like Ireland. -
4:43 - 4:46The consequences are the destruction
of the natural ecosystem -
4:46 - 4:50and the resources of animals
like the orang-outans. -
4:50 - 4:55Twenty-five of them
are dying every single day. -
4:55 - 4:58Even worse, palm oil consumption
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4:58 - 5:01has been proven
to have a link with cancers. -
5:02 - 5:04So, we all know famous brands
that have palm oil in it. -
5:04 - 5:06And we all know this very famous one,
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5:06 - 5:09this brown paste kids
and even adults love, -
5:09 - 5:12that you can eat
for breakfast or for a snack. -
5:12 - 5:14Do you remember last year,
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5:14 - 5:19when a supermarket decided
to promote off 70% of its price? -
5:19 - 5:23Here is a quick reminder of what happened.
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5:25 - 5:27(Video) (Crowd noises)
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5:41 - 5:43(French) Female voice: Careful!
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5:43 - 5:45(Shouts)
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5:45 - 5:47(French) Be careful!
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5:47 - 5:49(French) Take it easy!
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5:49 - 5:51Easy!
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5:51 - 5:53Narrator: This is Intermarché.
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5:55 - 5:58We are talking about dream tonight,
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5:58 - 6:01but this is a nightmare.
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6:01 - 6:04So, let me ask you one question:
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6:04 - 6:07How did we arrive to a society
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6:07 - 6:11where people are literally
running after products -
6:11 - 6:15that are destroying
their health and their planet? -
6:16 - 6:20One answer is that we don't
really feel concerned. -
6:20 - 6:25We've been brainwashed
since we're kids not to think about it. -
6:26 - 6:30And industrials are doing everything
to keep selling more and more -
6:30 - 6:35no matter what, at the expense
of our health and our environment. -
6:36 - 6:38Big companies owning the food system
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6:38 - 6:42are spending millions to build
a story around their product. -
6:42 - 6:46They want us to believe that
they, as a brand, will feed us, -
6:46 - 6:48will bring people together,
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6:48 - 6:52will support us in every step
of our lives, right ? -
6:53 - 6:57And this is powerful because
we all have this emotional connection -
6:57 - 7:00with some food we were eating
when we were kids. -
7:00 - 7:02What is happening today
-
7:02 - 7:05is exactly what happened
a few decades ago with tobacco. -
7:05 - 7:09It was killing little
by little but surely. -
7:09 - 7:13People knew about it,
but they were still advertising it. -
7:13 - 7:18Look, even Father Christmas
and babies were promoting it. -
7:20 - 7:24This would be unbelievable today.
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7:24 - 7:27But it was the case few decades ago.
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7:27 - 7:32Well, maybe our grandchildren
will say the same about that. -
7:34 - 7:39So, if big companies can't take care
of our health and our planet -
7:39 - 7:41because they prefer
to make money on our backs, -
7:41 - 7:46maybe we can count on
governments or public institutions? -
7:47 - 7:49Well, no!
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7:50 - 7:54Let me introduce you
to big companies' best friends: -
7:54 - 7:56lobbys.
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7:56 - 7:58They are very powerful.
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7:59 - 8:02Lobbies' mission
is to influence political decisions. -
8:02 - 8:07They have a budget given by big
companies to promote their interests. -
8:07 - 8:10Their job is to slow down
the legislative train, -
8:10 - 8:14so that laws don't appear to let
big companies make more and more profit. -
8:14 - 8:16By doing that, the cigarette lobby
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8:16 - 8:20succeeded in delaying
the tobacco law for more than 20 years. -
8:20 - 8:25This is exactly what is happening
with the law about taxing palm oil. -
8:25 - 8:27It never appeared.
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8:27 - 8:32This is exactly what is happening
with the law about sodium nitrite, -
8:32 - 8:37this ingredient you can find
in industrial ham to make it pink. -
8:37 - 8:39It never appeared,
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8:39 - 8:45even if it's proven that sodium nitrite
is a direct cause of colorectal cancer, -
8:45 - 8:49the third more common cancer in France.
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8:50 - 8:53So, how do we do it?
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8:53 - 8:56And you know that it's also a reason
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8:56 - 8:59why big companies are paying scientists
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8:59 - 9:03to write scientific studies saying
their product is not dangerous. -
9:04 - 9:06This is called corruption.
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9:06 - 9:09What about pharmaceutical lobbies
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9:09 - 9:13playing hand in hand common interests
with the one from agribusiness. -
9:13 - 9:17See, if you don't eat very well
and buy some industrially processed food, -
9:17 - 9:21you will probably get sick some day
and go to the doctor, -
9:21 - 9:25and then to the pharmacy
to buy some medicines. -
9:25 - 9:29Lobbyists know that there is
no money in healthy people. -
9:29 - 9:33And obviously, there is
no money in dead people either. -
9:33 - 9:34The money is in the middle,
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9:34 - 9:38people who are alive
but with chronic diseases. -
9:39 - 9:41Every minute in the US,
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9:41 - 9:44a person is killed by heart disease.
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9:45 - 9:51We have 40% obese people in the US
and 18% already in France. -
9:51 - 9:54And it is spreading
very quickly in both countries. -
9:56 - 9:58What about global warming?
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9:58 - 10:02The second source of greenhouse
gas emission is animal farming, -
10:02 - 10:06just behind heating and electricity,
but before transportation. -
10:07 - 10:10Producing one kilogramm of beef
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10:10 - 10:15requires 15,000 liters of water.
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10:16 - 10:20And we know that there is a water crisis
going on in the world, right? -
10:21 - 10:24So you see all these people
in the street walking for climate. -
10:25 - 10:26This is great,
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10:26 - 10:31but it's useless if you don't change
the way you eat every day. -
10:32 - 10:36So now that we know,
how do we change things? -
10:37 - 10:39The change won't come from big companies.
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10:39 - 10:43The change won't come from
governments or public institutions. -
10:43 - 10:45They will take measures, make adjustments
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10:45 - 10:50while what we need here
is a drastic change. -
10:51 - 10:57What if there could be a single
solution to all of these problems, -
10:58 - 11:01a solution so comprehensive
and straightforward -
11:01 - 11:05that it's mind bugging
we haven't taken it seriously? -
11:06 - 11:11We, as citizens, have the power.
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11:12 - 11:14It's in our plates.
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11:14 - 11:19The only power able to change the system
is the one we have as consumers. -
11:19 - 11:23And it's a huge one,
but we forgot about it -
11:23 - 11:26maybe because it is easier
than to take full responsibility for it, -
11:26 - 11:28let's be honest.
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11:29 - 11:32Without us consumers,
big companies are nothing. -
11:33 - 11:37We have the power to change things
and build the world we want to live in. -
11:37 - 11:40Actually, by choosing
what we eat three times a day, -
11:40 - 11:42we have much more impact
-
11:42 - 11:45than putting a ballot in the box
once every five years. -
11:46 - 11:49With food, we can choose
the economic system we support, -
11:50 - 11:52the agriculture type we want to favorize,
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11:52 - 11:55the social relationships we build,
the education for children, -
11:55 - 11:59our health, our environment,
and animal protection. -
11:59 - 12:02So, stop telling yourselves
stories and excuses. -
12:02 - 12:04Be ambitious.
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12:04 - 12:06Dream big.
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12:07 - 12:10From dream to reality,
how can we do it from now? -
12:10 - 12:12Three steps.
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12:12 - 12:15First, question, always.
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12:15 - 12:18Don't take for granted
what you see on TV on marketing. -
12:18 - 12:23Do your best to learn and to understand
because knowledge is power. -
12:24 - 12:26Then, take action now.
-
12:26 - 12:29And here, there is no space
for compromise or average solution. -
12:29 - 12:31You need to be radical:
-
12:31 - 12:35boycott the products that are destroying
your health and your environment, -
12:35 - 12:37eat less or no meat,
eat local and seasonal products, -
12:37 - 12:40go to the market
rather than the supermarket, -
12:40 - 12:46and last, spread and repeat this message
around you and on social media. -
12:47 - 12:49So it's true,
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12:49 - 12:53it may be more difficult
but guess what? -
12:53 - 12:55Great changes don't come easy.
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12:55 - 13:00So how ambitious are you
for yourself and your planet? -
13:00 - 13:04You know, a while ago,
I was buying some industrial food -
13:04 - 13:07but when I began to discover
the consequences of my choices, -
13:07 - 13:11in a way, I didn't have
the choice anymore. -
13:11 - 13:13I had to embrace this subject
-
13:13 - 13:17and fight every day
for the world I am dreaming of. -
13:17 - 13:20And saying that my individual action
will have a too-small impact -
13:20 - 13:23is people's worst excuse to do nothing.
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13:24 - 13:26Food is not part of my everyday job.
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13:26 - 13:28I work in an EdTech company,
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13:28 - 13:31but I've made the choice
to fight every day -
13:31 - 13:34for better and more
conscious food choices. -
13:34 - 13:38So you students, who are
smart and educated people, -
13:38 - 13:43if you don't do it, what are
the chances left for our world? -
13:44 - 13:46As you know, Gandhi said,
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13:46 - 13:50"Be the change you want
to see in the world." -
13:50 - 13:52Let's begin with your next meal.
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13:52 - 13:55Next time you buy your food
for lunch or dinner, -
13:55 - 14:00wonder yourself
"Which system am I serving?" -
14:00 - 14:04The alarm is ringing as a wake-up call.
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14:04 - 14:06Let's listen to it.
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14:06 - 14:10We can change the story and make history.
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14:11 - 14:12Let's act from now.
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14:13 - 14:15Eat different.
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14:15 - 14:17Thank you.
- Title:
- You can change the world three times a day | Laura Lesueur | TEDxEDHECBusinessSchool
- Description:
-
Laura Lesueur is convinced that you can make a real change in the world by the way you eat every day and that our food choices have a direct impact on our health, environment, economy, social relationships, education, and culture. "The power is in our plate" is her motto.
As the Learning Director of the Edtech startup 360Learning (a Learning Engagement platform), Laura Lesueur strongly believes that education and learning can be the answers to many issues in today’s world. She is also the co-founder of "Manger Citoyen" (www.manger-citoyen.org), an NGO that aims at gathering citizens in order to create a new alimentary ecosystem and trigger a wake-up call.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 14:20