Back to the kitchen| Bela Gil | TEDxLaçadorSalon

Bela Gil talks about the food production chain from a cook's point of view. She defends that we are used to practical but not so healthy industrialized products and that we should start cooking again so that the industry doesn't choose our menu anymore.

Bela Gil is a culinary specialist and TV presenter with a degree in Natural Culinary from the Natural Gourmet Institute and in Food Science from Hunter College.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using TED's conference format but is independently oganized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx.

Good evening.

I've always really liked eating,
but I was never really into cooking.

When I was little, I loved watching
my granny cook and work in the kitchen.

She was in charge of Christmas dinner,
New Year's and Easter.

She made all with so much love and care.

My brother was the one who liked
to go hands-on with her.

Even today, she still asks me

how, when and why
did I end up in the kitchen?

And that's the answer
I want to give you today.

Because if something can change
the future of eating habits,

that's cooking.

As a teenager, precisely at 14,

I began to do yoga.

And yoga changed me.

It completely changed my life.

It changed my vision of the world,
it changed my diet,

and with that I realized

that food has power,

so to speak.

I also decided to study
eating philosophies

that used food as forms of prevention,

healing, and disease treatment,

even as kinds of medicine.

So I decided to study a little
about Ayurveda and macrobiotics.

These philosophies
brought back something in me

that I think modern times
have taken from many of us young people,

which is care, zeal,
and respect for nature.

So, I decided that we could change the way

we build the food system
through eating habits.

I believe one of the side effects
of modern times

is humans getting distant from nature,

the distance between urban and rural life.

I believe that if we bring

a little of rural life to the city,

we can strengthen the bonds
between man and nature.

For example, by planting urban gardens.

It's a way to reconnect with nature.

Some years later, when I was 18,

I lived abroad, and there
I learned how to cook.

I fell in love with the art of culinary,
I fell in love with the kitchen,

and I realized we could use food
and eating habits as a tool,

not only to improve the quality
of life in terms of health

but also to use it as as tool

in political, economic,
social, and environmental terms,

and then manage
to restructure the food system,

change the diet dynamics

and the production, distribution,
and food consumption processes.

I'll give you an example
of the meat production process.

There are two principles
that conduct the meat production

at an industrial scale:

quantity and speed.

The more you produce
and the cheaper it gets,

the worse the quality,

and the cost is higher
for our health and environment.

In terms of speed,

the animal cycle
is artificially accelerated,

the animal life cycle
is artificially accelerated,

and it starts growing
and producing in such a way

that at some point
their bodies can't take it anymore,

and it drastically decreases

its life quality,

its health and lifetime.

I believe that we can and must change

this food system.

The other day I was at the supermarket,

and I noticed that a pound of chicken

was cheaper than a pound of tomatoes.

And I said, "How can that be?"

This is very complex.

How can it cost so little

to raise an animal
from birth to slaughter?

I couldn't understand that.

In terms of vegetables and greens,

the industrial scale production process

is also very harmful to our lives,

our health, and to the environment

because, today, Brazil is the biggest
agrochemical consumer in the world.

Each Brazilian consumes around
11 pounds of agrochemicals per year.

It's a steep amount.

And people know
the hazards of agrochemicals,

but they still put up with this abuse
of usage and consumption.

And I wondered why.

But the answer is that our current society

has twisted values.

Our values are twisted.

Why does someone worry
about not buying fake perfume

because they worry
about some allergic reaction,

as they don't know its origin,

they don't know what sort
of chemicals are in the bottle,

and they don't care about eating
intoxicated vegetables?

Why is that?

I wondered about this and realized
that this is the change of values.

We need to teach people
to value organic products,

because when you buy
organic lettuce, for example,

you're not only investing in your health

but also paying
for the producer's well-being,

which is something
people don't usually think of,

they don't know that behind that lettuce
is someone who cares for it with love

and brought that lettuce to you.

So we pay for the producer's well-being,

we invest in our health,
and we respect nature.

I think that's why I fell in love

with cooking and nutrition.

In terms of distribution,
it's not efficient either.

I think you know we produce a lot of food.

One third of the food we produce
is simply wasted, thrown out.

And we ask ourselves
why so many people are still starving.

The reason is bad distribution policy.

We have to rethink that.

In consumption terms,

the way we consume food
today is frightening.

My grandma is from São Paulo,
and she lives there.

If I dropped her in the middle
of Paulista Avenue,

I'm sure she would be really scared

seeing all those executives,
or those people in a hurry,

walking along the street,
talking on their cell phones,

swallowing a slice of pizza -

because chewing is something
people also think is a waste of time,

but it's actually very important.

Anyway, she would freak out

because she doesn't see that as a meal,

as a way to nurture and feed oneself.

Fast food is made for this purpose,

so we can eat while doing something else,

talking on the phone, typing, watching TV.

This makes us lose
our notion of satiation.

We make room for gluttony,

which is very harmful to our health.

So, we need to rethink
the way we consume food.

These snacks, biscuits, and so on
also have a lot of chemical additives,

and too much salt, fat, and sugar,
which is the addictive trio.

Flavor enhancers end up
destroying our sense of taste,

they degenerate our nervous system
and create addiction,

not only physical but also mental,

psychological,
and physiological addiction.

That is, excessive industrialized products

are very harmful.

I don't even call them food.

To me, they are fake food,

because you may feel full eating them,

but they won't nurture or feed you.

And who still makes popcorn in a pan?
Pan popcorn instead of microwave?

Look! Half and half. (Laughter)

Who still makes cakes
instead of buying mixtures?

Oh! Also half and half. (Laughter)

These two questions
may seem a little harmless

and not mean anything,
but actually they mean a lot.

By just switching from pan popcorn
to microwave popcorn,

you're already harming your health,

because you're consuming chemicals

that you surely wouldn't add
to your pan popcorn,

and you're also polluting
with the microwave popcorn packaging.

It's an extra packaging that could
be less trash in the world.

I think the excessive consumption
of industrialized products

is really harmful.

To sum up

this food production issue,

I think this food dynamics,
this food system

is not healthy at all.

It's not working.

And we have to change.
But how can we change?

The main answer
is going back to the kitchen.

Cooking is synonym of art,
culture, leisure, health.

Cooking brings independence,
self-knowledge, autonomy,

safety, freedom.

Cooking is life's fundamental art.

If we don't cook,
someone will do it for us.

I hope it's not the industry.

Because the industry doesn't cook,
it simply processes food.

If you let the industry feed you,

it'll choose what to give you for dinner:

frozen lasagna, French fries,
burgers, hot dogs.

How about pizza?

Give us delivery pizza

because we can't even make
pizza anymore!

I believe that we...

Oh, no! Wait! Where's rice and beans?

The everyday rice and beans
that filled up our stomachs and souls?

I think a lot of people

who are not interested in
or fond of cooking

must think it's a lot of work,

not practical, and a waste of time.

But if you leave the beans
soaking overnight,

in the morning, in 20 minutes you'll have
them ready in the pressure cooker.

Or you just take one day to make beans

and freeze them for the week.

Along with fresh rice
that you make in 20 or 30 minutes

and vegetables that you have prewashed
and cut up in the fridge

when you came back from the market,

you have a whole meal ready
in half an hour.

It might be the same time
you would wait for a pizza,

from the pizza delivery.

So, I think we must change

the way we see cooking,

the way we see the act of cooking.

Everybody can and must cook:

men, women, boys, girls,
kids, adults, the elderly.

There's no age, sex, or gender.

Everybody can cook. Everybody should cook.

By changing education, teaching kids,

taking kids to the market to choose
the vegetables they'll have for dinner,

having kids peel potatoes, do the dishes,

simple day-to-day things,

we can build a better future.

These kids will grow up
with a holistic view of the world.

They'll know where the food comes from,

because many people think it comes
from the supermarket shelf.

Kids will grow up independent
of the food industry

because they will learn to cook.

They will grow up independent
of the pharmaceutical industry

because they will be less sick,

growing up and eating
homemade food, healthy food.

I believe we have to change
the food dynamics.

We have to change

how we value food.

We have to value food more,
value the act of eating and cooking.

Education isn't just saying
"please," "thank you," and "excuse me."

Education doesn't mean

seeing a hospital as synonym of health.

I think having life quality,
a healthy lifestyle, and a healthy diet,

so that we need fewer hospitals -

that is education.

It's education and prevention.

So, the future of food

will decide the future of humanity.

Cooking and choosing food well

are choices we can make
to make a better world.

Thank you.

(Applause)