I live in South Central. This is South Central: liquor stores, fast food, vacant lots.
Živim u Južnom Centralu. Ovo je Južni Central. Prodavnice pića, brza hrana, prazni placevi.
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.
Tako su se urbanisti sastali i odlučili da promene ime Južni Central, kako bi zapravo predstavljao nešto drugo i tako ga promenili u južni Los Anđeles, kao da će to popraviti ono što se u stvari dešava u gradu. Ovo je južni Los Anđeles. (Smeh) Prodavnice pića, brza hrana, prazni placevi.
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.
Kao i 26,5 miliona drugih Amerikanaca, i ja živim u prehrambenoj pustinji; južni centralni Los Anđeles, dom brze hrane iz automobila i ubistava iz automobila. Čudno je to da prvo zapravo ubija više ljudi od drugog. Ljudi umiru od izlečivih bolesti u južnom centralnom Los Anđelesu. Na primer, stepen gojaznosti u mom kraju je pet puta viši nego recimo na Beverli Hilsu, koji je otprilike udaljen oko 16 km.
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.
Umorio sam se od gledanja ovog. I pitao sam se, kako biste se vi osećali da nemate pristup zdravoj hrani, da svaki put kad izađete iz kuće vidite negativne posledice koje sadašnji režim ishrane ima na vašu sredinu? Gledam kako se invalidska kolica kupuju i prodaju kao polovni automobili. Gledam centre za dijalizu kako niču svuda kao Starbaks. I pomislio sam, ovo mora da prestane. I tako sam shvatio da je problem zapravo rešenje. Hrana je problem i hrana je rešenje. Plus, umorio sam se od vozanja okolo po 45 minuta da bih kupio jabuku koja nije napumpana pesticidima.
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.
I šta sam uradio - zasadio sam šumu hrane ispred moje kuće. Bila je na delu zemlje koju zovemo stazica. Veličine je 45 sa 3 metra. Stvar je u tome da je vlasništvo grada. Ali moraš je održavati. I ja razmišljam: ''Kul. Mogu da radim šta god hoću, s obzirom da je moja odgovornost i ja treba da je održavam.'' A ja sam odlučio da je održavam ovako.
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.
Moja grupa, L.A. Zelene Površine i ja smo se okupili i počeli smo da sadimo moju šumu hrane, voćke, znate, pun paket, povrće. Mi smo grupa koja čini dobro drugima, koja broji baštovane različitih profesija, sredina, iz svih delova grada i potpuno je volonterski i sve što radimo, radimo besplatno. I bašta, bila je predivna.
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.
I onda se neko žalio. Grad se obrušio na mene, i zapravo su mi dali uput da uklonim baštu, što se pretvorilo u nalog. I ja pitam: ''Zar stvarno? Nalog zbog zasađivanja hrane na parčetu zemlje koje vas uopšte ne zanima?'' (Smeh) I pomislio sam: ''Kul. Hajde, spreman sam.'' Jer ovog puta ne odustajem. L.A. Tajms se dokopao priče. Stiv Lopez je napravio priču o tome pričao sa odbornicima i sa jednim našim članom, postavili su peticiju na sajt Change.org, i sa 900 potpisa smo uspeli. Imali smo pobedu u rukama. Moj odbornik je čak zvao i pitao kako mogu da pomognu i rekao da mu se sviđa šta radimo. Mislim, hajde, kako i ne bi voleli? L.A. je prvi u SAD-u po praznim placevima koji zapravo pripadaju gradu. Grad ima 67 kvadratnih kilometara praznih placeva. To je 20 puta veličine Central parka u Njujorku. Tol je dovoljno prostora da se zasadi 725 miliona sadnica paradajza. Zašto onda dođavola ne bi pristali na ovo? Jedna biljka daće vam 1.000, 10.000 semenki. Sadnica boranije vredna 1 dolar daće vam proizvod vredan 75 dolara. To je moja priča, kad kažem ljudima - proizvodite sopstvenu hranu. Proizvodnja sopstvene hrane je kao štampanje sopstvenog novca.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)
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.
Vidite, moje zaveštanje je u Južnom Centralu. Odrastao sam tamo. Podigao sam moje sinove tamo. I odbijam da budem deo ove proizvedene stvarnosti koju su za mene proizveli drugi ljudi i ja proizvodim svoju stvarnost.
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.
Vidite, ja sam umetnik. Baštovanstvo su moji grafiti. Ja uzgajam svoju umetnost. Kao i umetnik koji crta grafite, koji ulepšavaju zidove, ja ulepšavam travnjake, stazice. Koristim baštu, zemlju, kao da je parče krpe i biljke i drveće, to je moje ulepšavanje za tu krpu. Iznenadili biste se da vidite šta zemlja može da uradi ako joj dozvolite da bude vaše platno. Prosto ne možete da zamislite kako je suncokret neverovatan i kako utiče na ljude.
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.
I šta se desilo? Prisustvovao sam tome da je moja bašta postala alat za obrazovanje, alat za transformaciju moje sredine. Da biste promenili zajednicu morate da promenite sastav zemlje. Mi smo zemlja. Iznenadili biste se da vidite kako to utiče na decu. Baštovanstvo je najveća terapeutska i prkosna stvar koju možete da uradite naročito u unutrašnjosti grada. Plus dobijete jagode.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
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."
Sećam se, jednom, došle su majka i ćerka, bilo je oko 10.30 uveče i bile su u mom dvorištu, ja sam izašao napolje, a njih dve su bile jako posramljene. Bilo mi je neprijatno što stoje tamo i rekao sam im, znate, ne morate da to ovako da radite. Ovo sve je na ulici sa razlogom. Bilo me je sramota da vidim ljude koji su bili tako blizu mene, gladne, i to je samo dodatno pojačalo razlog zašto ovo radim, a ljudi su me pitali: ''Fin, ne bojiš se da će ljudi krasti tvoju hranu?'' Kažem: ''Do đavola, naravno da se ne bojim da će krasti hranu. Zato je na ulici. U tome je i poenta. Želim da je uzmu, ali istovremeno, želim da vrate svoje zdravlje.''
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.
Jednom sam posadio baštu u centar beskućnika u centru Los Anđelesa. Momci su bili tu, pomogli su mi da istovarim kamion. Bilo je kul i prosto su podelili priče kako je ovo uticalo na njih i kako su ranije sadili sa svojim majka i bakama i bilo je super videti kako ih je ovo promenilo, pa čak i ako samo za taj trenutak.
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.
Tako su Zelene Površine zasadile možda 20 bašti. Desilo se da je 50-tak ljudi došlo na naša uređenja, učestvovali su, a sve su volonteri. Ako deca uzgajaju kelj, deca će ga i jesti. (Smeh) Ako uzgajaju paradajz, oni će ga i jesti. (Aplauz) Ali ako im se sve ovo ne pokaže, ako im se ne pokaže kako hrana utiče na telo i um, onda slepo jedu šta god da stavite ispred njih.
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.
Vidim mlade ljude, koji žele da rade, ali su toliko zaokupljeni drugim stvarima. Vidim decu i oni su prosto na tom putu koji im je namenjen, a koji ih nigde ne vodi. Tako da sa baštovanstvom, ja vidim priliku gde možemo naučiti tu decu da preuzmu svoje zajednice, da imaju održiv život. I kad uradimo ovo, ko zna? Možda proizvedemo novog Džordža Vašingtona Karvera. Ali ako ne promenimo sastav zemlje, nikad nećemo ovo uraditi.
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.
E, ovo je jedan od mojih planova. To je ono što želim da radim. Želim da pretvorim čitave blokove u bašte, u kojima ljudi mogu deliti hranu. Želim da transportne kontejnere pretvorim u zdrave kafee. Ali, nemojte me pogrešno shvatiti. Ja ne pričam o nečemu besplatnom, jer besplatno nije održivo. Nešto zanimljivo vezano za održivost je, da je morate održavati. (Smeh) (Aplauz) Ono o čemu pričam je zapošljavanje ljudi, i sklanjanje dece sa ulica i pokazivanje radosti, ponosa i časti u uzgajanju sopstvene hrane, otvaranju pijaca.
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.
Tako da ono što želim da uradim ovde, moramo ovo napraviti da bude seksi. Tako da želim da svi postanemo ekološki odmetnici, krimosi, krimosi baštovani. Moramo da promenimo značenje krimosa. Ako nisi baštovan, nisi krimos. Budi krimos sa svojom lopatom, ok? I neka to bude oružje po tvom izboru.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)
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.
Tako da, ako želite da se vidite sa mnom, znate, ako želite da se vidimo, nemojte me zvati ako želite da sedite u udobnim foteljama i nalazite se da se dogovarate da kao radite nešto gde pričate o tome da radite nešto. Ako želite da se vidite sa mnom, dođite do bašte sa vašom lopatom kako bismo zasadili nešto.
Peace. Thank you.
Mir. Hvala vam.
(Applause) Thank you. (Applause)
(Aplauz) Hvala vam. (Aplauz)