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.
Pershendetje. Emri im eshte Birke Baehr, dhe jam 11 vjec. Une erdha sot ketu per te folur rreth asaj qe nuk funksionon me sistemin tone ushqimor. Se pari, une do doja te thoja qe une jam me te vertete i cuditur sesa lehte femijet jane udhehequr qe te besojne te gjithe marketingun dhe reklamat ne TV, ne shkollat publike dhe pak a shume kudo qe hedh syte. Mua me duket si korporatat qe janë gjithmonë duke u përpjekur për të marrë fëmijët si unë qe te detyrojne prinderit e tyre per te shkuar per te blere gjera qe me te vertete nuk jane te mira per ne ose per planetin. Femijet e vegjel, ne vecanti, jane te terhequr nga ngjyrat e paketimeve dhe lodrat plastike, Une duhet ta pranoj, qe kam qene njeri prej tyre. Une gjithashtu kam pas menduar qe cdo gje nga ushqimi jone vjen nga keto ferma te lumtura, te vogla ku derrat mbeshtillen ne balte dhe lopet kullosin bar gjithe diten.
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.
Ajo cka une zbulova eshte qe kjo nuk eshte e vertete. Une fillova te shihja ne brendesi te ketyre gjerave ne internet, neper libra dhe ne filma dokumentare, si edhe ne udhetimet me familjen time. Une zbulova anen e erret te sistemit ushqimor te industrializuar. Se pari jane fara dhe organizma mekanikisht gjenetike. Kjo ndodh kur fara eshte e manipuluar ne laborator per te bere dicka jo te realizuar nga natyra -- si te marresh DNA e peshkut dhe ta vendosesh ne DNA e domates -- e shpifur. Mos me keqkuptoni. Mua me pelqen peshku dhe domatja, por kjo eshte thjesht e shpifur. (Qeshje) Farat jane per tu mbjellur, dhe me pas per tu rritur. Ushqimi qe ato prodhojne eshte vertetuar ne laboratorin e kafsheve qe shkakton kancer dhe probleme te tjera. Dhe njerezit kane ngrene ushqime te prodhuar ne kete menyre qe nga vitet 1990. Dhe pjesa me e madhe e popullit as qe e dine qe keto ekzistojne. A e dinit ju qe minjte qe hane miser gjenetikisht te prodhuar ju jane zhvilluar shenja te toksikimit te melcise dhe te veshkave. Keto perfshijne inflamacionin e veshkave, lezionet dhe rrisin peshen e veshkave. Megjithate, pothuajse i gjithe misri qe hame ne nje fare menyre, eshte i ndryshuar gjenetikisht. Dhe me lejoni t'ju tregoj qe, misri eshte kudo. Dhe mos me lejoni te filloj me operacionet e kufizuara te ushqimit te kafsheve, te quajtura CAFOS.
(Laughter)
(Qeshje)
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.
Fermeret konvencional perdorin plehrat kimike te bere nga lendet fosil djegese qe i perziejne me balte per ti bere bimet qe te rriten. Ato e bejne kete sepse ato e kane zhveshur token nga te gjithe perberesit per te rritur kultura te njejta pa pushim. Me shume kimikate te demshme jane te mbuluara ne fruta dhe perime, si pesticidet dhe herbicidet, per te vrare farerat e keqia dhe insektet. Kur bie shi, keto kimikate depertojne ne terren, ose ikin ne ujerat tone, duke helmuar ujin tone gjithashtu. Me pas ato rrezikojne ushqimet tona, duke u perpjekur per ta bere ate te zgjase me gjate, keshtu qe mund te udhetoje mijera milje nga ku eshte rritur drejt supermarketeve.
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.
Keshtu qe une pyes veten time, si mundem une te ndryshoj? Si mund ti ndryshoje keto gjera? Kjo eshte ajo qe une zbulova. Zbulova qe ekziston nje levizje per nje rruge me te mire. Po ti kthehemi se shkuares, une kam dashur te isha nje lojtar futbolli NFL. Une vendosa qe me mire te isha nje bujk organik. (Duartrokitje) Faleminderit. Dhe ne kete menyre une mund te kem nje ndikim me te madhe ne bote. Kete burre, Joel Salatin, e quajne nje fermer te cmendur sepse ai rritet kunder sistemit. Qekur une jam shkolluar ne shtepi, une shkova nje dite per ta degjuar ate. Ky burre, ky fermer i cmendur, nuk perdor asnje pesticid, herbicid, ose fara gjenetikisht te modifikuara. Dhe pikerisht per kete, ai eshte etiketur nga sistemi si i cmendur.
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.
Une dua qe ju te dini, qe ne te gjithe mund te bejme nje ndryshim duke bere zgjedhje te ndryshme, duke blere ushqimet tona direkt nga fermeret lokal, ose nga komshinjte tane te cilet i kemi njohur gjate gjithe jetes tone. Shume njerez thone qe ushqimet organike ose lokale jane shume me te shtrenjta, por a eshte vertet keshtu? Me gjithe keto gjera qe une kam mesuar rreth sistemit ushqimor, me duket se ne ose do te paguajme fermeret, ose do te paguajme spitalin. (Duartrokitje) Tani une e di se cfare do te zgjedh. Une dua qe ju ta dine qe atje jashte ka ferma -- si Bill Keener ne Fermen Sequachie Cove ne Tenesi -- ku lopet hane bar dhe qe derrat rrotullohen ne balte, tamam ashtu sic une kam imagjinuar. Ndonjehere une shkoj ne Fermen e Bill si vullnetar, ne menyre qe te shoh me nga afer dhe personalisht se nga vjen mishi qe une ha. Une dua qe ju ta dini qe une besoj qe femijet do te hane zarzavate te fresketa dhe ushqim te mire nese do te dine me shume rreth kesaj dhe se nga vjen me te vertete. Une dua qe ju ta dini qe ka tregje fermeresh qe shfaqen, ne cdo komunitet. Une dua qe ju ta dini qe une, vellai dhe motra ime ne te vertete na pelqen te hame patate te skuqura. Une mundohem ta ndaj kete kudo qe shkoj.
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.
Jo shume kohe me pare, daja im me tha qe i dha kushuririt tim gjashte vjecar kornflekse. Ai e pyti nese ai donte O's organike te thekura ose kornflekse te sheqerosura -- ne kopertinen e te cilit ndodhej nje karikatur i vijezuar. Kushuriri im i vogel i tha te atit qe do te preferonte per te ngrene kornflekset organike te thekura O's, sepse, Birke ka thene, qe nuk duhet te hani kornflekse te sheqerosura. Dhe pikerisht kjo, miqte e mi eshte sesi ne mund te realizojme ndryshim nje femije ne nje kohe.
So next time you're at the grocery store, think local, choose organic, know your farmer and know your food. Thank you.
Keshtu qe heren tjeter qe do te jeni ne nje dyqan ushqimor, mendoni lokalisht zgjidhni ushqime organike, njihni fermeret tuaj dhe njihni ushqimin tuaj. Ju faleminderit.
(Applause)
(Duartrokitje)