What's wrong with our food system
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0:01 - 0:03Hello. My name is Birke Baehr,
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0:03 - 0:05and I'm 11 years old.
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0:05 - 0:08I came here today to talk about what's wrong with our food system.
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0:08 - 0:10First of all, I would like to say
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0:10 - 0:13that I'm really amazed at how easily kids are led to believe
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0:13 - 0:15all the marketing and advertising
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0:15 - 0:17on TV, at public schools
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0:17 - 0:19and pretty much everywhere else you look.
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0:19 - 0:21It seems to me like corporations
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0:21 - 0:23are always trying to get kids, like me,
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0:23 - 0:25to get their parents to buy stuff
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0:25 - 0:27that really isn't good for us or the planet.
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0:27 - 0:29Little kids, especially,
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0:29 - 0:31are attracted by colorful packaging
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0:31 - 0:33and plastic toys.
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0:33 - 0:36I must admit, I used to be one of them.
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0:36 - 0:38I also used to think that all of our food
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0:38 - 0:40came from these happy, little farms
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0:40 - 0:43where pigs rolled in mud and cows grazed on grass all day.
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0:43 - 0:46What I discovered was this is not true.
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0:46 - 0:48I began to look into this stuff
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0:48 - 0:51on the Internet, in books and in documentary films,
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0:51 - 0:53in my travels with my family.
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0:53 - 0:56I discovered the dark side of the industrialized food system.
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0:57 - 1:00First, there's genetically engineered seeds and organisms.
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1:00 - 1:03That is when a seed is manipulated in a laboratory
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1:03 - 1:05to do something not intended by nature --
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1:05 - 1:07like taking the DNA of a fish
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1:07 - 1:10and putting it into the DNA of a tomato. Yuck.
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1:10 - 1:13Don't get me wrong, I like fish and tomatoes,
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1:13 - 1:15but this is just creepy.
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1:15 - 1:17(Laughter)
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1:17 - 1:19The seeds are then planted, then grown.
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1:19 - 1:21The food they produce have been proven
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1:21 - 1:23to cause cancer and other problems in lab animals,
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1:23 - 1:25and people have been eating food produced this way
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1:25 - 1:27since the 1990s.
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1:27 - 1:29And most folks don't even know they exist.
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1:29 - 1:32Did you know rats that ate genetically engineered corn
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1:32 - 1:35had developed signs of liver and kidney toxicity?
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1:35 - 1:38These include kidney inflammation and lesions and increased kidney weight.
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1:38 - 1:40Yet almost all the corn we eat
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1:40 - 1:42has been altered genetically in some way.
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1:42 - 1:44And let me tell you,
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1:44 - 1:46corn is in everything.
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1:46 - 1:48And don't even get me started on the Confined Animal Feeding Operations
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1:48 - 1:50called CAFOS.
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1:50 - 1:52(Laughter)
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1:52 - 1:54Conventional farmers use chemical fertilizers
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1:54 - 1:56made from fossil fuels
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1:56 - 1:58that they mix with the dirt to make plants grow.
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1:58 - 2:01They do this because they've stripped the soil from all nutrients
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2:01 - 2:04from growing the same crop over and over again.
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2:04 - 2:07Next, more harmful chemicals are sprayed on fruits and vegetables,
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2:07 - 2:09like pesticides and herbicides,
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2:09 - 2:11to kill weeds and bugs.
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2:11 - 2:14When it rains, these chemicals seep into the ground,
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2:14 - 2:16or run off into our waterways,
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2:16 - 2:18poisoning our water too.
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2:18 - 2:21Then they irradiate our food, trying to make it last longer,
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2:21 - 2:23so it can travel thousands of miles
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2:23 - 2:26from where it's grown to the supermarkets.
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2:26 - 2:28So I ask myself,
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2:28 - 2:30how can I change? How can I change these things?
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2:30 - 2:32This is what I found out.
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2:32 - 2:35I discovered that there's a movement for a better way.
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2:35 - 2:37Now a while back,
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2:37 - 2:39I wanted to be an NFL football player.
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2:39 - 2:42I decided that I'd rather be an organic farmer instead.
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2:42 - 2:51(Applause)
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2:51 - 2:53Thank you.
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2:53 - 2:56And that way I can have a greater impact on the world.
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2:56 - 2:59This man, Joel Salatin, they call him a lunatic farmer
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2:59 - 3:01because he grows against the system.
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3:01 - 3:03Since I'm home-schooled,
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3:03 - 3:05I went to go hear him speak one day.
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3:05 - 3:07This man, this "lunatic farmer,"
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3:07 - 3:09doesn't use any pesticides, herbicides,
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3:09 - 3:12or genetically modified seeds.
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3:12 - 3:15And so for that, he's called crazy by the system.
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3:15 - 3:18I want you to know that we can all make a difference
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3:18 - 3:20by making different choices,
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3:20 - 3:22by buying our food directly from local farmers,
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3:22 - 3:24or our neighbors who we know in real life.
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3:24 - 3:26Some people say organic or local food is more expensive,
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3:26 - 3:28but is it really?
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3:28 - 3:31With all these things I've been learning about the food system,
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3:31 - 3:34it seems to me that we can either pay the farmer,
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3:34 - 3:36or we can pay the hospital.
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3:36 - 3:43(Applause)
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3:43 - 3:45Now I know definitely which one I would choose.
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3:45 - 3:47I want you to know that there are farms out there --
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3:47 - 3:50like Bill Keener in Sequatchie Cove Farm in Tennessee --
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3:50 - 3:52whose cows do eat grass
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3:52 - 3:54and whose pigs do roll in the mud, just like I thought.
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3:54 - 3:56Sometimes I go to Bill's farm and volunteer,
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3:56 - 3:58so I can see up close and personal
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3:58 - 4:00where the meat I eat comes from.
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4:00 - 4:02I want you to know that I believe
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4:02 - 4:04kids will eat fresh vegetables and good food
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4:04 - 4:07if they know more about it and where it really comes from.
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4:07 - 4:09I want you to know that there are farmers' markets
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4:09 - 4:11in every community popping up.
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4:11 - 4:13I want you to know that me, my brother and sister
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4:13 - 4:15actually like eating baked kale chips.
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4:15 - 4:18I try to share this everywhere I go.
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4:18 - 4:20Not too long ago,
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4:20 - 4:23my uncle said that he offered my six-year-old cousin cereal.
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4:23 - 4:25He asked him if he wanted organic Toasted O's
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4:25 - 4:27or the sugarcoated flakes --
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4:27 - 4:30you know, the one with the big striped cartoon character on the front.
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4:31 - 4:33My little cousin told his dad
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4:33 - 4:35that he would rather have the organic Toasted O's cereal
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4:35 - 4:38because Birke said he shouldn't eat sparkly cereal.
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4:39 - 4:41And that, my friends, is how we can make a difference
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4:41 - 4:43one kid at a time.
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4:43 - 4:46So next time you're at the grocery store, think local,
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4:46 - 4:48choose organic, know your farmer and know your food.
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4:48 - 4:50Thank you.
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4:50 - 4:53(Applause)
- Title:
- What's wrong with our food system
- Speaker:
- Birke Baehr
- Description:
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11-year-old Birke Baehr presents his take on a major source of our food -- far-away and less-than-picturesque industrial farms. Keeping farms out of sight promotes a rosy, unreal picture of big-box agriculture, he argues, as he outlines the case to green and localize food production.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 04:53
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