La voluntat de viure de manera diferent pot sorgir en alguns dels llocs més inusuals. Vinc d'aquí, Todmorden. És un poble mercantil al nord d'Anglaterra, 15,000 persones, situat entre Leeds i Manchester, un poble bastant normal. Abans tenia aquest aspecte, i ara té aquest, amb fruita i vegetals i herbes brotant a tot arreu. L'anomenen jardineria propagandística. (Rialles)
The will to live life differently can start in some of the most unusual places. This is where I come from, Todmorden. It's a market town in the north of England, 15,000 people, between Leeds and Manchester, fairly normal market town. It used to look like this, and now it's more like this, with fruit and veg and herbs sprouting up all over the place. We call it propaganda gardening. (Laughter)
A la cantonada de les vies de tren, al pàrquing de l'estació, a davant d'un centre de salut, als jardins dels veïns, i fins i tot davant de la comissaria. (Rialles) Tenim camins vora el canal comestibles, i tenim cementiris que broten. La terra és extremadament bona. (Rialles)
Corner row railway, station car park, front of a health center, people's front gardens, and even in front of the police station. (Laughter) We've got edible canal towpaths, and we've got sprouting cemeteries. The soil is extremely good. (Laughter)
Fins i tot hem inventat una nova forma de turisme. Es diu turisme vegetal, i ho creieu o no, la gent ve de totes les parts del món per remenar en les nostres lliteres, fins i tot quan no hi ha gaire cosa que hi creix. (Rialles) Però treu el tema. (Rialles)
We've even invented a new form of tourism. It's called vegetable tourism, and believe it or not, people come from all over the world to poke around in our raised beds, even when there's not much growing. (Laughter) But it starts a conversation. (Laughter)
I, sabeu, no estem fent tot això perquè ens avorrim. (Rialles) Ho fem perquè volem començar una revolució.
And, you know, we're not doing it because we're bored. (Laughter) We're doing it because we want to start a revolution.
Vam intentar donar resposta a una simple pregunta: Es pot trobar un llenguatge d'unificació indiferent de l'edat i el salari i la cultura que ajudarà a la mateixa gent a trobar una nova manera de viure veure els espais al seu voltant de manera diferent, pensar en els recursos que fan servir de manera diferent, interactuar de manera diferent. Podem trobar aquest llenguatge? I després, podem replicar aquestes accions? I la resposta sembla ser que si, i el llenguatge sembla que és menjar.
We tried to answer this simple question: Can you find a unifying language that cuts across age and income and culture that will help people themselves find a new way of living, see spaces around them differently, think about the resources they use differently, interact differently? Can we find that language? And then, can we replicate those actions? And the answer would appear to be yes, and the language would appear to be food.
Així doncs, fa 3 anys i mig, alguns de nosaltres ens vam asseure al voltant de la taula de la cuina i vam inventar tot això. (Rialles) (Aplaudiments) Vam idear un pla molt senzill i el vam portar a una reunió pública. No vam fer cap consulta. No vam escriure un informe. Ja n'hi ha prou de tot això. (Rialles) I en aquesta reunió publica a Todmorden vam dir, mireu, imaginem que la nostra vila es centra en tres plats: el plat de la comunitat, la manera que vivim el dia a dia; el plat d'aprenentatge, el que ensenyem als nostres nens a l'escola i totes les noves habilitats que compartim entre tots; i negocis, el que fem amb els diners de la nostra butxaca i quins negocis escollim donar suport.
So, three and a half years ago, a few of us sat around a kitchen table and we just invented the whole thing. (Laughter) (Applause) We came up with a really simple game plan that we put to a public meeting. We did not consult. We did not write a report. Enough of all that. (Laughter) And we said to that public meeting in Todmorden, look, let's imagine that our town is focused around three plates: a community plate, the way we live our everyday lives; a learning plate, what we teach our kids in school and what new skills we share amongst ourselves; and business, what we do with the pound in our pocket and which businesses we choose to support.
Ara, imaginem tots aquests plats agitats amb accions comunitàries relacionades amb menjar. Si fem giravoltar un d'aquests plats de la comunitat, és magnífic, es comença a donar poder a la gent, però si aconseguim fer girar aquest plat dels comunitat amb el plat de l'aprenentatge, i després amb el plat dels negocis, aconseguim un espectacle real, tenim acció. Estem començant a construïr resistència nosaltres mateixos. Estem començant a reinventar la comunitat nosaltres mateixos, i hem fet tot això sense cap document estratègic. (Aplaudiments)
Now, let's imagine those plates agitated with community actions around food. If we start one of those community plates spinning, that's really great, that really starts to empower people, but if we can then spin that community plate with the learning plate, and then spin it with the business plate, we've got a real show there, we've got some action theater. We're starting to build resilience ourselves. We're starting to reinvent community ourselves, and we've done it all without a flipping strategy document. (Applause)
I aquí està la cosa. No hem demanat permís a ningú per fer això, simplement ho estem fent. (Rialles) I certament no estem esperant que caigui cap xec a la bústia abans de començar, i el més important de tot, no ens intimidem amb arguments sofisticats com ara, "Aquestes petites accions no volen dir res de cara als problemes de demà," perquè jo he vist el poder de les petites accions, i és genial.
And here's the thing as well. We've not asked anybody's permission to do this, we're just doing it. (Laughter) And we are certainly not waiting for that check to drop through the letterbox before we start, and most importantly of all, we are not daunted by the sophisticated arguments that say, "These small actions are meaningless in the face of tomorrow's problems," because I have seen the power of small actions, and it is awesome.
Bé, tornem a la reunió pública. (Rialles) Vam fer aquesta proposició a la reunió, dos segons, i la sala va explotar. No he experimentat mai res semblant en la meva vida. I ha passat el mateix a cada sala, a cada poble, on hem explicat la nostra història. La gent està preparada i respòn a la història del menjar. Volen accions positives en les que hi puguin participar, i en els seu interior, saben que es el moment de prendre responsabilitat personal i invertir en més amabilitat cap als altres i cap a l'entorn.
So, back to the public meeting. (Laughter) We put that proposition to the meeting, two seconds, and then the room exploded. I have never, ever experienced anything like that in my life. And it's been the same in every single room, in every town that we've ever told our story. People are ready and respond to the story of food. They want positive actions they can engage in, and in their bones, they know it's time to take personal responsibility and invest in more kindness to each other and to the environment.
I des de que vam fer aquella reunió fa tres anys i mig, ha sigut una aventura. Vam començar amb un intercanvi de llavors, coses molt simples, i després vam agafar un tros de terra, una línia al costat de la nostra carretera principal, que bàsicament, era un lavabo de gossos, i el vam convertir en un herbari molt bonic. Vam agafar la cantonada del pàrquing de l'estació que heu vist, i vam fer lliteres per als vegetals per a tothom que vulgues collir i compartir per ells mateixos. Vam anar als metges. Ens acaben de construïr un centre de salut de 6 milions de lliures a Todmorden, i per alguna raó que no arribo a comprendre, l'han envoltat d'arbustos espinosos. (Rialles) Així que ens vam acostar als doctors i vam dir, "Us importaria si els traièssim?" I van dir, "Va bé, mentre que tingueu permís de planificació i ho feu en llatí i per triplicat," així que ho vam fer — (Rialles) — i are hi ha arbres fruiters i arbustos i herbaris i vegetals al voltant d'aquest centre mèdic. I hi ha molts més exemples, com el blat de moro que hi havia a davant de la comissaria, i el geriàtric on hi hem plantat menjar que la gent gran pot collir i cuidar.
And since we had that meeting three and a half years ago, it's been a heck of a roller coaster. We started with a seed swap, really simple stuff, and then we took an area of land, a strip on the side of our main road, which was a dog toilet, basically, and we turned it into a really lovely herb garden. We took the corner of the car park in the station that you saw, and we made vegetable beds for everybody to share and pick from themselves. We went to the doctors. We've just had a 6-million-pound health center built in Todmorden, and for some reason that I cannot comprehend, it has been surrounded by prickly plants. (Laughter) So we went to the doctors, said, "Would you mind us taking them up?" They said, "Absolutely fine, provided you get planning permission and you do it in Latin and you do it in triplicate," so we did — (Laughter) — and now there are fruit trees and bushes and herbs and vegetables around that doctor's surgery. And there's been lots of other examples, like the corn that was in front of the police station, and the old people's home that we've planted it with food that they can pick and grow.
Però no es tracta només de fer créixer, perquè tots formem part d'aquest trencaclosques. Es tracta d'agafar tota la gent artística de la teva comunitat i crear dissenys fabulosos en aquestes lliteres vegetals per explicar a la gent què s'hi està cultivant allà, perquè hi ha tanta gent que no pot reconèixer un vegetal si no està envoltat de plàstic amb una etiqueta d'instruccions a sobre. (Rialles) Així que tenim gent que dissenya aquestes coses, "Si té aquesta pinta, si us plau no ho colliu, però si té aquest aspecte, agafeu-ho. Es tracta de compartir i invertir en amabilitat.
But it isn't just about growing, because we all are part of this jigsaw. It's about taking those artistic people in your community and doing some fabulous designs in those raised beds to explain to people what's growing there, because there's so many people that don't really recognize a vegetable unless it's in a bit of plastic with a bit of an instruction packet on the top. (Laughter) So we have some people who designed these things, "If it looks like this, please don't pick it, but if it looks like this, help yourself." This is about sharing and investing in kindness.
I per tota aquella gent que no vol fer cap d'aquestes coses, potser poden cuinar, així que collim en temporada i anem al carrer, o al pub, o a l'esglèsia, o on sigui que la gent està vivint les seves vides. Tot això es basa en nosaltres apropant-nos a la gent i dient, "Tots som part del trencaclosques del menjar local, tots som part de la solució."
And for those people that don't want to do either of those things, maybe they can cook, so we pick them seasonally and then we go on the street, or in the pub, or in the church, or wherever people are living their lives. This is about us going to the people and saying, "We are all part of the local food jigsaw, we are all part of a solution."
I després, com sabem que tenim turistes vegetals i ens encanten i son absolutament fantàstics, vam pensar, com podem proveïr-los d'una experiència encara millor? Així que vam inventar, sense demanar permís, està clar, la Ruta Verda Increïble Comestible. I aquesta es una ruta que mostra els jardins, els caminets comestibles, llocs que conviden a les abelles, i la història dels polinitzadors, i es una ruta que vam dissenyar que porta a la gent a través de tot el nostre poble, passant per davant cafès i botiguetes, a traves del nostre mercat, no només d'una banda a l'altra del supermercat, i esperem que, canviant els llocs on trepitja la gent al voltant del poble, estem canviant també el seu comportament.
And then, because we know we've got vegetable tourists and we love them to bits and they're absolutely fantastic, we thought, what could we do to give them an even better experience? So we invented, without asking, of course, the Incredible Edible Green Route. And this is a route of exhibition gardens, and edible towpaths, and bee-friendly sites, and the story of pollinators, and it's a route that we designed that takes people through the whole of our town, past our cafes and our small shops, through our market, not just to and fro from the supermarket, and we're hoping that, in changing people's footfall around our town, we're also changing their behavior.
I després, hi ha el segon plat, el plat de l'aprenentatge. Bé, tenim una associació amb un institut. Hem creat una companyia. Estem dissenyant i construïnt una unitat d'aquapònics en un tros de terra que sobrava al darrere de l'institut, així tal qual, i ara començarem a criar peixos i vegetals en un hort d'arbres fruiters amb abelles, i els nens ens estan ajudant a construir-ho, i els nens son una prioritat, i com que la comunitat tenia moltes ganes de treballar amb l'escola, l'institut ara ensenya agricultura, i com que està ensenyant agricultura, vam començar a pensar, com podríem agafar aquests nens que no han tingut mai cap qualificació en la seva vida però estan entusiasmats en cultivar, com podem donar-los més experiència?
And then there's the second plate, the learning plate. Well, we're in partnership with a high school. We've created a company. We are designing and building an aquaponics unit in some land that was spare at the back of the high school, like you do, and now we're going to be growing fish and vegetables in an orchard with bees, and the kids are helping us build that, and the kids are on the board, and because the community was really keen on working with the high school, the high school is now teaching agriculture, and because it's teaching agriculture, we started to think, how could we then get those kids that never had a qualification before in their lives but are really excited about growing, how can we give them some more experience?
Així que vam agafar una mica de terra que un centre de jardineria ens va donar. Era bastant fangós, però de manera increïble, i totalment voluntària, l'hem transformat en un centre d'ensenyament de cultiu per al mercat, i que té poli-túnels i llits enlairats i tot el que es necessita per posar les mans a la terra i pensar que potser aquí hi ha un futur lloc de treball per a mi. I ja que estàvem fent això, uns quants acadèmics locals va dir, "Sabeu, podríem ajudar a dissenyar-vos un curs d'horticultura comercial. No n'hi ha cap que sapiguem nosaltres." Així que ho estan fent, i en farem el llançament aquest any, i tot això és un experiment, i és tot voluntari.
So we got some land that was donated by a local garden center. It was really quite muddy, but in a truly incredible way, totally voluntary-led, we have turned that into a market garden training center, and that is polytunnels and raised beds and all the things you need to get the soil under your fingers and think maybe there's a job in this for me in the future. And because we were doing that, some local academics said, "You know, we could help design a commercial horticulture course for you. There's not one that we know of." So they're doing that, and we're going to launch it later this year, and it's all an experiment, and it's all voluntary.
I després tenim el tercer plat, perquè si camines a través d'un paisatge edible, i si aprens noves habilitats, i si comences a estar interessat en el que està creixent a cada estació, potser voldràs gastar major part dels teus diners en donar suport als productors locals, no només vegetals, sinó també formatge i cervesa i totes les altres coses que hi hagi.
And then there's the third plate, because if you walk through an edible landscape, and if you're learning new skills, and if you start to get interested in what's growing seasonally, you might just want to spend more of your own money in support of local producers, not just veg, but meat and cheese and beer and whatever else it might be.
Però clar, nosaltres només som un grup comunitari, sabeu. Som simplement voluntaris. Què més podríem fer? Així que vam fer coses simples. Vam recaudar fons, vam agafar pissarres, vam escriure-hi "Increïble Comestible" a dalt de tot, vam posar-hi cada venedor que tenia productes locals, i ells van escriure-hi tot el que venien aquella setmana. Molt popular. La gent s'hi va congregar al voltant. Les vendes van augmentar.
But then, we're just a community group, you know. We're just all volunteers. What could we actually do? So we did some really simple things. We fundraised, we got some blackboards, we put "Incredible Edible" on the top, we gave it every market trader that was selling locally, and they scribbled on what they were selling in any one week. Really popular. People congregated around it. Sales were up.
I després, vam parlar amb els grangers, i vam dir, "Anem molt seriosament amb això," però ells no ens van creure, així que vam pensar, bé, i que farem? Ja ho sé. Si podem crear una campanya al voltant d'un producte i ensenyar-los que hi ha una lleialtat local a aquest producte, potser canviaràn de parer i veuràn que anem seriosament.
And then, we had a chat with the farmers, and we said, "We're really serious about this," but they didn't actually believe us, so we thought, okay, what should we do? I know. If we can create a campaign around one product and show them there is local loyalty to that product, maybe they'll change their mind and see we're serious.
Així que vam llançar una campanya -- perquè em fa gràcia -- que es diu Cada Ou Importa. (Rialles) I el que vam fer és que vam posar la gent en el nostre mapa d'ous. Aquest és un mapa estilitzat de Todmorden. Qualsevol qui vengui els ous que li sobren al davant del jardí, legalment, als seus veïns, l'hem posat al mapa. Vam començar amb quatre, i ara en tenim 64, i el resultat d'això va ser que la gent anava a les botigues preguntant per els ous locals de Todmorden, i el resultat va ser, que alguns grangers van adquirir més gallines i pollastres de pagès, i després en van fer carn, i tot i que això son passos molt, molt petits, aquesta confiança econòmica local s'està fent notar en diversos aspectes, I tenim ara grangers que fan formatge i tenen més gallines i porcs de races poc habituals, fan pastes i pastissos i tot això que no haurien fet mai. Tenim cada vegada més parades al mercat venent menjar local, i en una enquesta que els estudiants locals ens van fer, 49 per cent de tots els venedors de la vila van dir que els guanys han incrementat gràcies al que estàvem fent. I això que només som voluntaris i tot això és només un experiment. (Rialles)
So we launched a campaign -- because it just amuses me -- called Every Egg Matters. (Laughter) And what we did was we put people on our egg map. It's a stylized map of Togmorden. Anybody that's selling their excess eggs at the garden gate, perfectly legally, to their neighbors, we've stuck on there. We started with four, and we've now got 64 on, and the result of that was that people were then going into shops asking for a local Todmorden egg, and the result of that was, some farmers upped the amount of flocks they got of free range birds, and then they went on to meat birds, and although these are really, really small steps, that increasing local economic confidence is starting to play out in a number of ways, and we now have farmers doing cheese and they've upped their flocks and rare breed pigs, they're doing pasties and pies and things that they would have never done before. We've got increasing market stalls selling local food, and in a survey that local students did for us, 49 percent of all food traders in that town said that their bottom line had increased because of what we were actually doing. And we're just volunteers and it's only an experiment. (Laughter)
Ara bé, res d'això és ciència espacial. Certament , no és original ni molt llest. Però ens ha unit, i és inclusiu. Aquest no és un moviment per aquella gent que se'n sortiràn de totes maneres. Aquest és un moviment per a tothom. Tenim un lema: Si menges, hi pertanys. (Rialles) (Aplaudiments) No importa l'edat, el salari, la cultura.
Now, none of this is rocket science. It certainly is not clever, and it's not original. But it is joined up, and it is inclusive. This is not a movement for those people that are going to sort themselves out anyway. This is a movement for everyone. We have a motto: If you eat, you're in. (Laughter) (Applause) Across age, across income, across culture.
Realment aquesta experiència ha estat una muntanya russa, però tornant a aquella primera pregunta que ens vam fer, és replicable? Si. Certament és replicable.
It's been really quite a roller coaster experience, but going back to that first question that we asked, is it replicable? Yeah. It most certainly is replicable.
Més de 30 pobles a Anglaterra ja estàn fent girar el plat de Increïble Comestible. De la manera que ells volen fer-ho, a la seva voluntat, estàn intentant de marcar una diferència en les seves vides, i globalment, tenim comunitats a través d'Amèrica i Japó -- és increïble, no trobeu? Vull dir, Amèrica i Japó i Nova Zelanda. La gent de Nova Zelanda després del terratrèmol ens van visitar per tal d'incorporar una mica d'aquests iniciativa pública al voltant del cultiu local a Christchurch.
More than 30 towns in England now are spinning the Incredible Edible plate. Whichever way they want to do it, of their own volition, they're trying to make their own lives differently, and worldwide, we've got communities across America and Japan -- it's incredible, isn't it? I mean, America and Japan and New Zealand. People after the earthquake in New Zealand visited us in order to incorporate some of this public spiritedness around local growing into the heart of Christchurch.
I res d'això requereix més diners i res d'això demana burocràcia, però si que demana que pensis les coses de manera diferent i que estiguis preparat per doblegar pressupostos i programes de treball per tal de crear aquest marc de suport on les comunitats s'hi puguin recolzar.
And none of this takes more money and none of this demands a bureaucracy, but it does demand that you think things differently and you are prepared to bend budgets and work programs in order to create that supportive framework that communities can bounce off.
I ja hi ha algunes idees genials en el nostre terreny. Les autoritats locals han decidit de fer que tot arreu sigui Increïble Comestible, i per donar-hi suport han decidit de fer dues coses.
And there's some great ideas already in our patch. Our local authority has decided to make everywhere Incredible Edible, and in support of that have decided to do two things.
Primer, crearan un registre actiu de terres on no hi ha res que les tenen, i les posaràn en un banc alimentici per tal que les comunitats les puguin utilitzar allà on viuen, i ho lligaran tot amb una llicència.
First, they're going to create an asset register of spare land that they've got, put it in a food bank so that communities can use that wherever they live, and they're going to underpin that with a license.
I també han dit a cada treballador que tenen, si podeu, ajudeu a aquestes comunitats a créixer, i ajudeu-les a mantenir els seus espais.
And then they've said to every single one of their workforce, if you can, help those communities grow, and help them to maintain their spaces.
De cop i volta, estem veient accions per part del govern local. Ho estem veient tornar-se convencional. Finalment estem responent de manera creativa al que Rio va demanar-nos, i hi ha moltes més coses que vosaltres podeu fer. Vull dir, per només citar-ne algunes. Primer, siusplau pareu de posar plantes espinoses al voltant d'edificis públics. És un espai malgastat. (Rialles) Segon, siusplau creeu -- siusplau, siusplau creeu paisatges comestibles per tal de que els nostres nens puguin començar a caminar al costat del seu menjar dia si, dia també, al carrer major, als nostres parcs, on sigui. Inspireu als planificadors locals a posar llocs de menjar al bell mig del poble i del pla de la ciutat, no a relegar-los a darrere de les urbanitzacions on ningú ho pot veure. Animeu a les nostres escoles a prendre's-ho seriosament. Aquest no és un exercici secundari. Si volem inspirar els grangers de demà, llavors siusplau deixeu-nos dir a cada escola, creeu un sentit de propòsit en vers la importància per al medi ambient, el menjar local i el sòl. Poseu-ho al cor dels vostra cultura escolar, i crearen una generació diferent.
Suddenly, we're seeing actions on the ground from local government. We're seeing this mainstreamed. We are responding creatively at last to what Rio demanded of us, and there's lots more you could do. I mean, just to list a few. One, please stop putting prickly plants around public buildings. It's a waste of space. (Laughter) Secondly, please create -- please, please create edible landscapes so that our children start to walk past their food day in, day out, on our high streets, in our parks, wherever that might be. Inspire local planners to put the food sites at the heart of the town and the city plan, not relegate them to the edges of the settlements that nobody can see. Encourage all our schools to take this seriously. This isn't a second class exercise. If we want to inspire the farmers of tomorrow, then please let us say to every school, create a sense of purpose around the importance to the environment, local food and soils. Put that at the heart of your school culture, and you will create a different generation.
Hi ha tantes coses que podeu fer, però de fet de això es tracta d'una cosa molt simple. A través d'un procés orgànic, a través de l'increment en la reconeixença del poder de les petites accions, estem començant, finalment, a creure en nosaltres mateixos altra vegada, i a creure en la nostra pròpia capacitat, cadascú de nosaltres, per construïr un futur diferent i més amable, i crec que això és increïble. Gràcies. (Aplaudiment) (Aplaudiment) Moltíssimes gràcies. (Aplaudiment)
There are so many things you can do, but ultimately this is about something really simple. Through an organic process, through an increasing recognition of the power of small actions, we are starting, at last, to believe in ourselves again, and to believe in our capacity, each and every one of us, to build a different and a kinder future, and in my book, that's incredible. Thank you. (Applause) (Applause) Thank you very much. (Applause)