Hej. Mit navn er Birke Baehr, og jeg er 11 år gammel. Jeg er kommet for at tale om, hvad der er galt med vores madsystem. Først og fremmest vil jeg sige, at jeg er forundret over, hvor let børn bliver ledt til at tro på al den marketing og reklamering i fjernsynet, på skoler og stort set alle andre steder. Det virker, som om firmaer altid prøver at få børn som mig til at få deres forældre til at købe ting som egentlig ikke er gode for hverken os eller planeten. Især små børn bliver tiltrukket af farverig emballage og plasticlegetøj. Jeg må indrømme, at jeg selv engang var én af dem. Jeg plejede også at tænke, at al vores mad kom fra de her glade, små gårde, hvor grise rullede i mudder og køer græssede dagen lang.
Hello. My name is Birke Baehr, and I'm 11 years old. I came here today to talk about what's wrong with our food system. First of all, I would like to say that I'm really amazed at how easily kids are led to believe all the marketing and advertising on TV, at public schools and pretty much everywhere else you look. It seems to me like corporations are always trying to get kids, like me, to get their parents to buy stuff that really isn't good for us or the planet. Little kids, especially, are attracted by colorful packaging and plastic toys. I must admit, I used to be one of them. I also used to think that all of our food came from these happy, little farms where pigs rolled in mud and cows grazed on grass all day.
Jeg opdagede, at dette ikke er sandheden. Jeg begyndte at undersøge det, på internettet, gennem bøger og dokumentarfilm, på rejser med min familie. Jeg opdagede den mørke side af industrifødevaresystemet. For det første er der genetisk modificerede frø og organismer. Det er når et frø er manipuleret i et laboratorium, til at gøre noget unaturligt, såsom at tage DNA fra en fisk og putte det ind i en tomats DNA -- bvadr. Forstå mig ret, jeg kan godt lide fisk og tomater, men det her er bare klamt. (Latter) Så plantes frøerne, og de gror. Det er bevist, at maden herfra, medfører kræft og andre problemer hos forsøgsdyr. Og folk har spist mad produceret på denne måde siden 1990'erne. Og de fleste ved ikke engang, at problemerne findes. Vidste I, at rotter som havde spist gensplejsede majs havde udviklet tegn på lever- og nyreforgiftning? Problemer såsom nyrebetændelse, læsioner og forhøjet nyrevægt. Alligevel, så er næsten al den majs, vi spiser, genetisk ændret på den ene eller den anden måde. Og jeg kan fortælle jer, at majs findes i alting. For slet ikke at tale om tvangsfodringen af dyr, kaldet CAFO'er.
What I discovered was this is not true. I began to look into this stuff on the Internet, in books and in documentary films, in my travels with my family. I discovered the dark side of the industrialized food system. First, there's genetically engineered seeds and organisms. That is when a seed is manipulated in a laboratory to do something not intended by nature -- like taking the DNA of a fish and putting it into the DNA of a tomato. Yuck. Don't get me wrong, I like fish and tomatoes, but this is just creepy. (Laughter) The seeds are then planted, then grown. The food they produce have been proven to cause cancer and other problems in lab animals, and people have been eating food produced this way since the 1990s. And most folks don't even know they exist. Did you know rats that ate genetically engineered corn had developed signs of liver and kidney toxicity? These include kidney inflammation and lesions and increased kidney weight. Yet almost all the corn we eat has been altered genetically in some way. And let me tell you, corn is in everything. And don't even get me started on the Confined Animal Feeding Operations called CAFOS.
(Latter)
(Laughter)
Konventionelle landmænd bruger kemisk gødning lavet af fossile brændsler og blander dem med jord for at få planter til at gro. Det gør de, fordi de har fjernet alle næringsstoffer fra jorden ved at gro den samme afgrøde om og om igen. Endnu mere skadelige kemikalier sprayes på frugt og grøntsager, som fx pesticider og ukrudtsmidler, for at dræbe ukrudt og insekter. Når det regner, siver disse kemikalier ned i jorden, eller løber ud i vores vandløb, og forgifter vores vand. Så bestråler de vores mad i et forsøg på øge holdbarheden, så det kan rejse tusindvis af kilometer ud til supermarkederne.
Conventional farmers use chemical fertilizers made from fossil fuels that they mix with the dirt to make plants grow. They do this because they've stripped the soil from all nutrients from growing the same crop over and over again. Next, more harmful chemicals are sprayed on fruits and vegetables, like pesticides and herbicides, to kill weeds and bugs. When it rains, these chemicals seep into the ground, or run off into our waterways, poisoning our water too. Then they irradiate our food, trying to make it last longer, so it can travel thousands of miles from where it's grown to the supermarkets.
Så jeg spørger mig selv, hvordan kan jeg lave alt det her om? Det her er, hvad jeg fandt ud af. Jeg fandt ud af, at der er en bevægelse, som vil gøre det bedre. For et stykke tid siden ville jeg være en NFL football spiller. Jeg bestemte mig for, at jeg hellere vil være økologisk landmand. (Klapsalve) Tak skal I have. Og på den måde får jeg større indflydelse på verden. Denne mand, Joel Salatin, bliver kaldet en vanvittig landmand fordi han dyrker imod strømmen. Jeg er hjemmeundervist, så jeg tog ud for at tale med ham en dag. Denne mand, denne vanvittige landmand, bruger ingen pesticider, ukrudtsmidler eller gensplejsede frø. Og derfor bliver han kaldt skør af resten af samfundet.
So I ask myself, how can I change? How can I change these things? This is what I found out. I discovered that there's a movement for a better way. Now a while back, I wanted to be an NFL football player. I decided that I'd rather be an organic farmer instead. (Applause) Thank you. And that way I can have a greater impact on the world. This man, Joel Salatin, they call him a lunatic farmer because he grows against the system. Since I'm home-schooled, I went to go hear him speak one day. This man, this "lunatic farmer," doesn't use any pesticides, herbicides, or genetically modified seeds. And so for that, he's called crazy by the system.
Vi kan alle gøre en forskel ved at træffe forskellige valg, ved at købe vores mad direkte fra lokale landmænd, eller vores naboer som vi har kendt hele livet. Nogen mennesker siger, at økologiske eller lokale fødevarer er dyrere, men er det virkelig det? Med alle disse ting jeg har lært om fødevaresystemet, så lader det til, at enten betaler vi landmanden, eller også betaler vi hospitalet. (Klapsalve) Nu ved jeg i hvert fald, hvad jeg ville vælge. I skal vide, at der er farme derude -- såsom Bill Keener i Sequachie Cove Farm i Tennessee -- hvis køer æder græs, og hvis grise ruller rundt i mudder, ligesom jeg troede. Nogle gange tager jeg hen til Bill's farm og arbejder frivilligt, så jeg personligt kan se, hvor det kød, jeg spiser, kommer fra. Jeg tror på, at børn gerne vil spise friske grøntsager og god mad hvis de ved mere om det, og hvor det egentlig kommer fra. Der er markeder inden for det her, som popper op alle vegne, i alle samfund. Jeg, min bror og min søster kan faktisk godt lide at spise grønkålschips. Jeg prøver at udbrede kendskaben til dem, overalt hvor jeg kommer.
I want you to know that we can all make a difference by making different choices, by buying our food directly from local farmers, or our neighbors who we know in real life. Some people say organic or local food is more expensive, but is it really? With all these things I've been learning about the food system, it seems to me that we can either pay the farmer, or we can pay the hospital. (Applause) Now I know definitely which one I would choose. I want you to know that there are farms out there -- like Bill Keener in Sequatchie Cove Farm in Tennessee -- whose cows do eat grass and whose pigs do roll in the mud, just like I thought. Sometimes I go to Bill's farm and volunteer, so I can see up close and personal where the meat I eat comes from. I want you to know that I believe kids will eat fresh vegetables and good food if they know more about it and where it really comes from. I want you to know that there are farmers' markets in every community popping up. I want you to know that me, my brother and sister actually like eating baked kale chips. I try to share this everywhere I go.
For ikke så lang tid siden, sagde min onkel, at han havde tilbudt min seksårige fætter morgenmad. Han spurgte, om han ville have økologiske Toasted O's eller de sukkerindsvøbte Frosties, I ved, dem med tigeren på forsiden af pakken. Min lille fætter sagde til sin far, at han hellere ville have de økologiske Toasted O's, fordi, "Birke har sagt at jeg ikke skal spise glimmermad". Og således, kære venner, kan vi gøre en forskel, ét barn ad gangen.
Not too long ago, my uncle said that he offered my six-year-old cousin cereal. He asked him if he wanted organic Toasted O's or the sugarcoated flakes -- you know, the one with the big striped cartoon character on the front. My little cousin told his dad that he would rather have the organic Toasted O's cereal because Birke said he shouldn't eat sparkly cereal. And that, my friends, is how we can make a difference one kid at a time.
Så næste gang I er i supermarkedet, så tænk lokalt, vælg økologisk, kend din landmand og kend din mad. Tak skal I have.
So next time you're at the grocery store, think local, choose organic, know your farmer and know your food. Thank you.
(Klapsalve)
(Applause)