I live in South Central. This is South Central: liquor stores, fast food, vacant lots.
Ma elan Kesk-Lõunas. See on Kesk-Lõuna: alkoholipoed, kiirtoit, tühjad maatükid.
So the city planners, they get together and they figure they're going to change the name South Central to make it represent something else, so they change it to South Los Angeles, like this is going to fix what's really going wrong in the city. This is South Los Angeles. (Laughter) Liquor stores, fast food, vacant lots.
Linnaplaneerijad tulid kokku ja muutsid piirkonna nime, et see esindaks midagi muud. Sellest sai Lõuna-Los Angeles, nagu see lahendaks linna probleemid. See on Lõuna-Los Angeles. (Naer) Alkoholipoed, kiirtoit, tühjad maatükid.
Just like 26.5 million other Americans, I live in a food desert, South Central Los Angeles, home of the drive-thru and the drive-by. Funny thing is, the drive-thrus are killing more people than the drive-bys. People are dying from curable diseases in South Central Los Angeles. For instance, the obesity rate in my neighborhood is five times higher than, say, Beverly Hills, which is probably eight, 10 miles away.
Nagu 26,5 miljonit teist ameeriklast, elan ma toidukõrbes, Los Angelese Kesk-Lõuna, läbisõidurestoranide ja möödasõidutulistamiste kodus. Kusjuures läbisõidurestoranid tapavad rohkem kui möödasõidutulistamised. Inimesed surevad Los Angelese Kesk-Lõunas ravitavatesse haigustesse. Ülekaalulisuste hulk minu kodukandis on viis korda suurem kui Beverly Hillsis, mis on vaid 13–16 km kaugusel.
I got tired of seeing this happening. And I was wondering, how would you feel if you had no access to healthy food, if every time you walk out your door you see the ill effects that the present food system has on your neighborhood? I see wheelchairs bought and sold like used cars. I see dialysis centers popping up like Starbucks. And I figured, this has to stop. So I figured that the problem is the solution. Food is the problem and food is the solution. Plus I got tired of driving 45 minutes round trip to get an apple that wasn't impregnated with pesticides.
Ma väsisin selle nägemisest. Kuidas sina end tunneksid, kui ei pääseks ligi tervislikule toidule, kui koduuksest välja astudes näeksid sa iga kord valitseva toidusüsteemi halba mõju oma kodukandile? Ratastoole ostetakse ja müüakse nagu kasutatud autosid. Dialüüsikeskused kerkivad nagu Starbucksi kohvikud. See pidi lõppema. Taipasin, et lahendus võib peituda probleemis endas. Toit on nii probleem kui lahendus. Lisaks oli mul villand 45-minutilistest sõitudest, et osta pestitsiidivabu õunu.
So what I did, I planted a food forest in front of my house. It was on a strip of land that we call a parkway. It's 150 feet by 10 feet. Thing is, it's owned by the city. But you have to maintain it. So I'm like, "Cool. I can do whatever the hell I want, since it's my responsibility and I gotta maintain it." And this is how I decided to maintain it.
Seega istutasin oma maja ette toidumetsa. See sai rohusele maaribale autotee ääres. See on 45x3 meetrit. Asi on selles, et see kuulub linnale. Aga kodanikud peavad seda hooldama. Ütlesin endale: "Lahe. Võin teha sellega mida iganes, kuna see on minu vastutusel ja mina pean seda hooldama. Ja ma otsustasin seda teha nii."
So me and my group, L.A. Green Grounds, we got together and we started planting my food forest, fruit trees, you know, the whole nine, vegetables. What we do, we're a pay-it-forward kind of group, where it's composed of gardeners from all walks of life, from all over the city, and it's completely volunteer, and everything we do is free. And the garden, it was beautiful.
Koos grupiga L.A. Green Grounds hakkasime mu toidumetsa istutama viljapuid, aedvilju, kõike muud sellist. Lähtume edasiandmise põhimõttest. Oleme aednikud igast eluvaldkonnast, üle kogu linna, tegutseme vabatahtlikena ja me teeme kõike seda tasuta. Sellest sai ilus aed,
And then somebody complained. The city came down on me, and basically gave me a citation saying that I had to remove my garden, which this citation was turning into a warrant. And I'm like, "Come on, really? A warrant for planting food on a piece of land that you could care less about?" (Laughter) And I was like, "Cool. Bring it." Because this time it wasn't coming up. So L.A. Times got ahold of it. Steve Lopez did a story on it and talked to the councilman, and one of the Green Grounds members, they put up a petition on Change.org, and with 900 signatures, we were a success. We had a victory on our hands. My councilman even called in and said how they endorse and love what we're doing. I mean, come on, why wouldn't they? L.A. leads the United States in vacant lots that the city actually owns. They own 26 square miles of vacant lots. That's 20 Central Parks. That's enough space to plant 725 million tomato plants. Why in the hell would they not okay this? Growing one plant will give you 1,000, 10,000 seeds. When one dollar's worth of green beans will give you 75 dollars' worth of produce. It's my gospel, when I'm telling people, grow your own food. Growing your own food is like printing your own money.
kuid siis esitas keegi kaebuse. Linnaametnikud tulid minu juurde hoiatusega, mis käskis aia eemaldada, muutes selle käskkirjaks. Mõtlesin, et kas nad räägivad tõsiselt. Käskkiri toidu istutamise eest maaribale, millest te vähimatki ei hooli? (Naer) Vastasin: "Lahe. Laske tulla." Sest see pidi välja tulema. L.A. Times sai asjast teada ja Steve Lopez kirjutas sellest loo ja rääkis volikogu liikmega ja üks Green Groundsi liige algatas Change.org portaalis petitsiooni, millele kogusime 900 allkirja. Olime võitmas. Üks volikogu liige helistas mulle ja ütles, et nad toetavad ja kiidavad meie tegevust. Miks nad ei peakski? LA on USA-s eesrinnas linnale kuuluvate tühjade maatükkide osas. Linnale kuulub 67 ruutkilomeetri jagu tühje maatükke. Sellele alale mahuks 20 Central Parki. Sellele alale saaks istutada 725 miljonit tomatitaime. Miks nad ei peaks seda mõtet heaks kiitma? Ühest taimest saab 1000–10 000 seemet. Ühe dollari väärtuses aedube annab 75 dollari väärtuses saaki. See on minu mantra, ma räägin inimestele, et nad kasvataksid ise oma toitu. Omale toidu kasvatamine on nagu raha trükkimine iseenda jaoks.
(Applause)
(Aplaus)
See, I have a legacy in South Central. I grew up there. I raised my sons there. And I refuse to be a part of this manufactured reality that was manufactured for me by some other people, and I'm manufacturing my own reality.
Mul on Kesk-Lõunaga oma side. Kasvasin siin üles, kasvatasin siin oma pojad üles. Ma ei taha olla osa sellest tehislikust reaalsusest, mille on keegi teine mulle tootnud. Ma loon ise oma reaalsuse.
See, I'm an artist. Gardening is my graffiti. I grow my art. Just like a graffiti artist, where they beautify walls, me, I beautify lawns, parkways. I use the garden, the soil, like it's a piece of cloth, and the plants and the trees, that's my embellishment for that cloth. You'd be surprised what the soil could do if you let it be your canvas. You just couldn't imagine how amazing a sunflower is and how it affects people.
Ma pean end kunstnikuks. Aiandus on minu graffiti. Ma kasvatan oma kunsti. Nagu tänavakunstnikud kaunistavad seinu, kaunistan mina muru ja tänavaääri. Kasutan aeda ja mulda riidetükina ning taimed ja puud on minu jaoks selle riide kaunistused. Te ei oska aimatagi, mida muld suudab teha, kui sellest saab teie lõuend. On uskumatu, kui imeline on päevalill ja kuidas see võib inimesi mõjutada.
So what happened? I have witnessed my garden become a tool for the education, a tool for the transformation of my neighborhood. To change the community, you have to change the composition of the soil. We are the soil. You'd be surprised how kids are affected by this. Gardening is the most therapeutic and defiant act you can do, especially in the inner city. Plus you get strawberries.
Seega mis juhtus? Minu aiast on saanud õppevahend, mille abil mu naabruskond on muutunud. Kogukonna muutmiseks on vaja muuta mulla koostist. Meie olemegi see muld. Teid üllataks, kui positiivselt see lastele mõjub. Aiandus on kõige teraapilisem ja trotsivam asi, mida sa teha saad, eriti linna südames. Lisaks saad sa maasikaid.
(Laughter)
(Naer)
I remember this time, there was this mother and a daughter came, it was, like, 10:30 at night, and they were in my yard, and I came out and they looked so ashamed. So I'm like, man, it made me feel bad that they were there, and I told them, you know, you don't have to do this like this. This is on the street for a reason. It made me feel ashamed to see people that were this close to me that were hungry, and this only reinforced why I do this, and people asked me, "Fin, aren't you afraid people are going to steal your food?" And I'm like, "Hell no, I ain't afraid they're gonna steal it. That's why it's on the street. That's the whole idea. I want them to take it, but at the same time, I want them to take back their health."
Mäletan ühte korda, kui üks ema tuli koos oma tütrega hilja õhtul, kella 22.30 paiku minu aeda. Ma tulin välja ja nägin, et nad tundsid piinlikkust. See kurvastas mind, et nad nõnda olid ning ütlesin neile, et nad ei pea seda häbenema. See aed on põhjusega tänaval. Tundsin ise häbi, nähes näljaseid inimesi toidule nii lähedal. See innustas mind veelgi enam. Kui mult küsitakse: "Fin, kas sa ei karda, et su toit varastatakse?" Vastan neile: "Kindlasti mitte! Sellepärast see ju ongi tänaval. See ongi asja mõte. Ma tahan, et sealt võetaks toitu, mis annab inimestele tagasi nende tervise."
There's another time when I put a garden in this homeless shelter in downtown Los Angeles. These are the guys, they helped me unload the truck. It was cool, and they just shared the stories about how this affected them and how they used to plant with their mother and their grandmother, and it was just cool to see how this changed them, if it was only for that one moment.
Kord rajasin ma sellise aia Los Angelese kesklinnas olevasse kodutute varjupaika. Paar meest aitasid mul asju kaubikult maha laadida. Oli tore kuulata neid rääkimas, kuidas see neid mõjutab ja kuidas nad oma ema ja vanaemaga olid taimi istutanud. Oli väga lahe näha neis muutust, isegi kui see oli vaid korraks.
So Green Grounds has gone on to plant maybe 20 gardens. We've had, like, 50 people come to our dig-ins and participate, and it's all volunteers. If kids grow kale, kids eat kale. (Laughter) If they grow tomatoes, they eat tomatoes. (Applause) But when none of this is presented to them, if they're not shown how food affects the mind and the body, they blindly eat whatever the hell you put in front of them.
Green Grounds on praeguseks rajanud umbes 20 aeda. Meid on selles aidanud umbes viiekümnend inimest, kes on kõik seda vabatahtlikult teinud. Kui lapsed kasvatavad kapsast, siis nad söövad kapsast. (Naer) Kui nad kasvatavad tomateid, siis nad söövad tomateid. Kui neile seda võimalust ei anta, kui neile ei näidata, kuidas toit mõjutab vaimu ja keha, siis nad söövadki pimesi kõike, mida neile ette antakse.
I see young people and they want to work, but they're in this thing where they're caught up -- I see kids of color and they're just on this track that's designed for them, that leads them to nowhere. So with gardening, I see an opportunity where we can train these kids to take over their communities, to have a sustainable life. And when we do this, who knows? We might produce the next George Washington Carver. but if we don't change the composition of the soil, we will never do this.
Näen noori inimesi, kes tahavad tööd teha, kuid on justkui kuhugi kinni jäänud. Näen tumedanahalisi noori, kes on justkui neile ettekirjutatud rajal, mis ei vii kuhugi. Näen aianduses võimalust panna need noored vastutama oma kogukonna eest ja muuta see jätkusuutlikuks. Kui suudame seda, siis kes teab mida edasi? Võime aidata kaasa järgmise George Washington Carveri sünnile. Kui me ei muuda aga mulla koostist, siis ei saavuta me seda iial.
Now this is one of my plans. This is what I want to do. I want to plant a whole block of gardens where people can share in the food in the same block. I want to take shipping containers and turn them into healthy cafes. Now don't get me wrong. I'm not talking about no free shit, because free is not sustainable. The funny thing about sustainability, you have to sustain it. (Laughter) (Applause) What I'm talking about is putting people to work, and getting kids off the street, and letting them know the joy, the pride and the honor in growing your own food, opening farmer's markets.
Minu plaan on järgmine. Ma tahan rajada terve kvartalijagu aedu, kus inimesed saavad toitu jagada. Ma tahan muuta laevakonteinerid tervisekohvikuteks. Ärge saage must valesti aru. Ma ei räägi mingitest tasuta asjadest, sest tasuta pole jätkusuutlik. Kummaline asi jätkusuutlikkusega on see, et see peab kestma. (Naer) (Aplaus) Ma soovin inimesi uuesti tööle panna, lapsed tänavatelt ära saada, et nad teaksid, millist rõõmu, uhkust ja au pakub toidu kasvatamine, soovin avada taluturge.
So what I want to do here, we gotta make this sexy. So I want us all to become ecolutionary renegades, gangstas, gangsta gardeners. We gotta flip the script on what a gangsta is. If you ain't a gardener, you ain't gangsta. Get gangsta with your shovel, okay? And let that be your weapon of choice.
Tahan muuta selle seksikaks. Muutugem ökolutsioonilisteks mässajateks, gangstadeks, gangsta-aednikeks. Peame muutma gangsta tähendust. Kui sa pole aednik, pole sa gangsta. Ole gangsta oma labidaga! Olgu see su valitud relv.
(Applause)
(Aplaus)
So basically, if you want to meet with me, you know, if you want to meet, don't call me if you want to sit around in cushy chairs and have meetings where you talk about doing some shit -- where you talk about doing some shit. If you want to meet with me, come to the garden with your shovel so we can plant some shit.
Ehk siis kui sa soovid minuga kohtuda, kui sa soovid minuga kokku saada, ära helista mulle, kui tahad pehmetel toolidel istuda ja pidada koosolekuid, kus räägitakse millegi tegemisest, kus vaid räägitakse millegi tegemisest. Kui soovid minuga kokku saada, tule mu aeda, võta labidas kaasa ja istutame midagi.
Peace. Thank you.
Rahu. Aitäh.
(Applause) Thank you. (Applause)
(Aplaus) Aitäh. (Aplaus)