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.
Hello. Nama saya Birke Baehr, dan saya berumur 11 tahun. Saya di sini untuk bercerita mengenai sistem makanan kita. Pertama sekali, saya mahu beritahu bahawa saya terpegun betapa mudah sekali kanak-kanak percaya pelbagai jenis teknik pemasaran dan iklan-iklan dalam TV, di sekolah-sekolah dan di mana-mana sahaja. Pada pengamatan saya, syarikat-syarikat senantiasa mahu kanak-kanak seperti saya, meminta agar ibu bapa kami beli barang yang memudaratkan kami dan juga bumi ini. Terutamanya kanak-kanak, tertarik dengan bungkusan berwarna-warni dan mainan-mainan plastik. Sejujurnya, dahulu saya juga seperti mereka. Dulu saya fikir semua makanan datang dari ladang-ladang kecil nan ceria khinzir bergolek di lumpur dan lembu makan rumput seharian.
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.
Saya kini sedar bahawa ianya tidak benar. Saya mula menyiasat perkara ini dalam Internet, buku, dan filem-filem dokumentari, semasa saya pergi bercuti sekeluarga. Saya mulai sedar keburukan dalam sistem industri makanan kita. Antaranya, biji benih dan organisma yang diubah secara genetik. Maksudnya, biji-biji benih ini dimanipulasi di dalam makmal, diubah kepada sesuatu yang tidak semulajadi seperti mengambil DNA dari ikan dan dimasukkan ke dalam DNA tomato. Jangan salah faham, saya suka makan ikan dan tomato, tetapi bukan begini. (Ketawa) Lalu bijirin ini ditanam, dan mulai tumbuh. Makanan-makanan ini sudah terbukti punca pelbagai penyakit pada tikus makmal, dan kita sudah mulai mengamalkan diet ini sejak tahun 1990-an. Dan tidak ramai yang sedar mengenainya. Tahukah anda, tikus yang makan jagung yang diolah secara genetik menunjukkan tanda-tanda toksik pada hempedu dan ginjal? Ianya termasuk inflamasi hempedu dan ginjal yang membesar. Tetapi hampir semua jagung yang kita makan sudah diolah secara genetik. Dan izinkan saya beritahu, jagung ini ada di dalam semua makanan. Jangan saya cerita Ops Makanan Terkurung yang digelar CAFOS.
(Laughter)
(Ketawa)
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.
Petani konvensional menggunakan baja kimia diperbuat daripada bahan bakar fosil yang dicampur tanah untuk membaja tanaman. Ini dilakukan kerana tanah sudah tidak lagi ada nutrisi hasil dari menanam tanaman sama berulang-ulang. Kemudian, baja berbahaya ini disembur pada buah dan sayuran, seperti racun serangga dan lalang, untuk membunuh lalang dan serangga. Bila hujan, bahan-bahan kimia ini akan masuk ke dalam tanah, dan mengalir ke dalam sistem perparitan, meracuni air kita juga. Mereka juga mengolah makanan kita, agar ianya tahan lebih lama, supaya ia tahan perjalanan beribu batu, dari tempat ianya ditanam hinggalah ke pasaraya.
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.
Saya tertanya pada diri sendiri, Bagaimana untuk membuat perubahan? Ini adalah jawapannya. Saya sedar ada cara yang lebih baik. Suatu masa dulu, saya mahu menjadi pemain ragbi NFL. Tetapi kini saya ingin menjadi petani organik. (Tepukan) Terima kasih. Dengan cara ini, impaknya pada dunia akan jauh lebih besar. Joel Salatin, digelar petani gila kerana beliau bertani melawan arus. Oleh kerana saya sekolah dari rumah, saya hadir syarahan beliau pada suatu hari. Lelaki ini, "lelaki gila" ini, tidak menggunakan sebarang racun, atau biji benih yang diubah. Oleh sebab itulah beliau digelar gila.
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.
Kita semua mampu melakukan perubahan dengan membuat pilihan yang berbeza, dengan membeli terus dari petani setempat, atau dari jiran yang memang kita kenal. Ada yang berkata ianya jauh lebih mahal, tetapi benarkah begitu? Dari semua yang saya pelajari mengenai sistem makanan kita, sama ada kita bayar para petani, atau kita bayar bil hospital. (Tepukan) Saya yakin dengan pilihan saya. Ramai petani di luar sana -- seperti Bill Keener di Sequatchie Cove Farm di Tennessee -- lembu-lembunya makan rumput khinzir mandi lumpur, serupa yang dibayang. Saya pergi ke ladang Bill untuk membantu, supaya saya boleh lihat sendiri dari mana datangnya daging yang saya makan. Saya mahu anda tahu bahawa saya percaya kanak-kanak akan makan makanan yang bagus Andai mereka tahu dari mana sumbernya datang. Ketahuilah bahawa ladang-ladang sebegini sudah semakin banyak. Ketahuilah bahawa saya, adik-beradik saya sangat suka makan kerepek kangkung bakar. Saya mahu berkongsi ini ke mana sahaja saya pergi.
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.
Tidak lama dahulu, pakcik saya memberi bijirin untuk anaknya yang berusia 6 tahun. Ditanya samada dia mahu Toasted O's organik ataupun bijirin yang penuh gula -- bijirin yang kotaknya ada watak kartun di hadapannya. Sepupu saya beritahu ayahnya dia mahu makan bijirin organik Toasted O's sebab Birke cakap dia tidak patut makan bijirin yang bersinar. Dan itu, hadirin, adalah cara kita berubah bermula dari seorang kanak-kanak.
So next time you're at the grocery store, think local, choose organic, know your farmer and know your food. Thank you.
Bilamana pergi membeli-belah, selalu fikir barang tempatan, pilih organik, dan fahami makanan anda. Terima kasih.
(Applause)
(Tepukan)