WEBVTT

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Jesse: You'd be surprised how
easy it is to grow your own food.

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Joan: You go outside, you pick a few items
and you cook it for your dinner.

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Carlos: This was always ours.

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We gave it away for I don't know
what, I guess convenience?

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But I think we're learning now that
convenience doesn't always trump everything.

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Hi it’s Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome
to another vegan nugget. It’s no secret

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that fresh, organic fruits and vegetables
are ideal for our physical health.

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But depending on where you live
and what your circumstances are,

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getting access to quality 
produce can be challenging.

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Our food system is broken
in more ways than one.

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We have a long and hard battle to
fight not only for the trillions of

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sentient beings killed for its
“products,” but also for

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the inequality of food distribution,
among other concerns.

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One of the simplest and most
empowering...literally

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grassroots solutions is
growing our own food.

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In an upcoming video I’ll cover 
some exciting grassroots initiatives

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that are transforming urban spaces 
into community gardens and working

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to bring fresh produce to food deserts
and individuals in need.

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Today’s video is about getting started
growing in your own home, apartment

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or residence, and the importance of
taking our food back into our own hands.

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To help me share this important
topic, I had the honor of

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speaking with three 
knowledgeable individuals.

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Jesse from the Instagram
account vegantake0ver,

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who we met in the video on feeding the
homeless of New York, and

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whose son Jesse Jace will be appearing in
upcoming vegan kids interviews.

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Joan from the Instagram account
and upcoming website HOG,

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Health Organic Green

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who helps people get started growing
with great tips, creative ideas,

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and by sending organic
seeds through the mail,

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and Carlos Espinal of the
100th Seed Project,

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which empowers communities in
reconnecting with their food source

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through urban farming, gardening
and green space initiatives.

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We’ll hear more from Carlos in the
upcoming urban gardening video.

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Let’s open up with hearing some 
basics about how to get started growing:

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Jesse: I had this huge patio in my
new apartment that I had moved into.

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There were a few pots out there
that were left and I always thought,

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“man, let me fill these pots up.”

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Eventually I got some soil and seeds
and I planted those pots and

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things started growing so well. So the
next thing you know I purchased

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a lot more pots, I started researching,
I started going on YouTube, and

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Googling things, I started
visiting local nurseries, and

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buying baby plants. And I just
started slowly filling up my patio.

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My first year and I never even lived in a
house, always in an apartment.

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I've never had a backyard. My first year 
I was harvesting pounds and pounds —

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probably hundreds of pounds of
food. It gives you a great

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satisfaction to grow your own
food, you really enjoy it.

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You just need to identify where and
how you going to grow your food.

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Are you going to grow
it on your balcony?

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Are you going to grow
it in the ground?

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Find a place with direct sun,
find some nice organic seeds from

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a trustworthy place. Visit a local
nursery and find out what plants

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grow good in your growing zone
because typically we don't know

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what type of plants grow
where we are living.

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Carlos: See if there's a local
farmer's market, or CSA,

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community garden that you
can go visit and volunteer.

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Don't be afraid to volunteer, take
some time out of your day and

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put that work in and learn. It's
all there you just got to find it.

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Don't be afraid to search, don’t be
afraid to feel like you don't know

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enough or whatever because we
all have to start somewhere.

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Joan: We've been growing food
for more than thirty years now.

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Twenty-eight of them right
here in our own backyard.

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We removed the deck that used
to sit right here and replaced it

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with a partial shade garden.

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When Hurricane Sandy hit,

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our roof got damaged and we
needed to replace the gutters.

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The banged up ones were
up-cycled and now,

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hanging in the back,
they grow our lettuces.

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Over the years we learned how to grow more
food in less space. Thanks to social media

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we've been able to teach people to grow their
own food anywhere. We started balcony gardens

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in Miami, hydroponic gardens, rooftop gardens,
and windowsill gardens. We've visited community

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gardens and CSA's. Folks have started produce
gardens right at their job place.

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Reclaiming our food system is such a powerful
action. Self-proclaimed Gansta Gardener Ron

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Finley says that “gardening is the most
therapeutic and defiant act you can do.

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Plus you get strawberries.”

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Jesse: I think it's very important to reclaim
our own food system because we have almost

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forgotten how to grow food. Growing food is
a skill that we all should have in our arsenal.

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We go to the supermarket and we purchase everything
there but we don't know how things were grown.

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A lot of these things aren’t grown
locally, they're not in season.

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When you grow your own food, you
know what you've put in the soil,

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you know you grow these things organically,
you know you didn't use any pesticides.

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Carlos: I'm a believer that by design we're
stewards of the land. We're were meant to

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be in unison, in cooperation, with
the land and we have lost that.

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It’s one of the most vital connections
we have, is to our planet and our Earth.

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Through learning how to grow our own
food we also learn, like, responsibility,


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you know? We plant the seed, we nurture it. 
You know, it’s like birth, right?

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You see it grow and you're able to watch
your creation blossom by nurturing it,

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taking care of it. I think you just have a
whole new respect for that process.

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Joan: The ethics behind many organic labels
have brought attention to fraud. Global concerns

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on the carcinogens use, on the food supply,
pollinator decline, wildlife destruction leaves

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the consumer at risk. This is the food we're
eating, this is how important this is.

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The best way to know it's organic is to grow
your own organic. We used our social media

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platform to spread awareness and
to date we've mailed seeds that we

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grew right here in this backyard to
1325 addresses worldwide.

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Not only is growing our own food
a way for us to reconnect to our

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food source, it’s also a way for us to
overcome food insecurity and subvert

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the power of food corporatization.

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Jesse: Once your plants go through a
few seasons, you get to save seeds.

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Next thing you know you have your own
seed bank, you have a seed collection.

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If something ever happens, you have
food security. Seeds may be worth

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more than gold if something
happens in the future.

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It's a very important skill that we as a society--they
don't teach this in schools most of the time.

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We should know how to grow our own food. You
know, if everybody grew their own food we

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could barter, we could trade. You know, if
people started planting seeds in public places,

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if we had edible fruit trees in the parks,
we wouldn't need to be reliant on buying food

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from these major corporations. So I think
it's very important to grow your own food.

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Carlos: Well I think the main problem is the
access to food, having these food deserts.

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Even in the biggest cities. Like here in New
York we have tons of supermarkets and stores

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everywhere, I can walk down the block and
go to the bodega but what are they selling

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there? None of it is healthy. All of it is
detrimental to our health. As much food as

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there is around us, there is not an abundance
of healthy living thriving foods. Regardless,

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especially in cities, there's a growing movement
of grassroots organizations and people that

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want to have that reconnection again. Even
with the farmers' markets. They're bringing

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in access from regional farms that are growing
a lot healthier, non-monocultered,

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like mass produced food that our
agriculture today is filled with.

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Joan: We're trying to make a difference because
this is something simple, affordable, and

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needed. The environmental impact of growing
your own food is immense. There are no fueled

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delivery systems to bring cargo ships of produce
to your store, no plastic packaging up the

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food, and there is no fuel to purchase the
food; you don't have to get in your car and

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go purchase it, you go outside you pick a
few items and you cook it for your dinner.

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It's that easy. It increases the health of
the food and it supports the ecosystem that's

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right outside your door. Growing an organic
garden is the easiest most repeatable way

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to ensure that the food you're serving your
family on their table is secure.

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Finally, home and community gardening is a
great way to involve kids and young people

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in a fun activity that helps them connect
to their food in a world where kids are more

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and more distanced from their food sources.

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Jesse involves his son Jesse Jace
in their home gardening.

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Jesse: I think it's really important for children
to see where and how food grows because if

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kids grow kale, kids will eat kale. If kids
grow tomatoes, they're gonna eat tomatoes.

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Kids love being in the garden. They get excited,
they want to water the plants, they want to

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plant the seeds. They want to harvest the
stuff. Then they become connected with it.

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In todays society children don't even know
what fruits and vegetables are many times.

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Growing your own food makes children
understand and cherish vegetables and fruits.

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I think it's very important to get the
kids involved and let them be outdoors.

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They're getting their vitamin D and fresh air
rather than being cooped up on video

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games and electronics. 
So, I think that's the most important part.

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I hope this vide has been helpful and inspiring.
Connecting to our food is vital on so many

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levels and, I believe, can even help people
open their minds and eyes to where

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and from whom their animal
products come from.

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It’s also a way to make fresh, organic produce
more available to everyone, making a healthy

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vegan lifestyle that much more approachable
and attainable. As Carlos said in the opening

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of this video, we’ve given away our connection
to our food and our ability to produce it

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on our own. And I think
it’s time to take it back.

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I’ve included links to my guests’ contact
information if you want to get in touch, and

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I want to thank Jesse, Carlos and
Joan for their important work

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and their assistance
with this video.

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Now I’d love to hear from you on this. Do
you grow your own food? Do you want to?

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What do you think about reclaiming our
food system? Let me know in the comments!

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If you enjoyed this video, give it a big thumbs-up
and share it around to help others grow their

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own organics. If you’re new here, do hit
that big red subscribe button down there for

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more awesome vegan content every Monday, Wednesday,
and some Fridays and not to miss out the on

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the community garden video. If you want to
help support Bite Size Vegan,

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check out either of the support links
in the video description below or

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click on the Nugget Army icon
or the link in the sidebar.

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Now go live vegan,

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take back your food,

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and I’ll see you soon.

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Jesse: What are you doing?

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Jesse Jace: Watering the plants!!!!

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Jesse: Good boy.