Delicious Evolution Food and Human Civilization
[Music]
so today i want to start by
going on a little journey um to the
origins of life
to try to put back the meaning of life
where it belongs right now we are
just checking in with the present we are
on a rock flying through space
at about 220 kilometers per second
around the sun the sun is an average
star
in an average galaxy in a massive
massive universe that we’re just barely
starting to understand
we are there we are that pale blue dot
floating in the immensity of space
that’s the truth
at some point in the history of our
universe
somewhere around four or five billion
years ago
this little blue planet
harboring life blue because it has water
in this matrix of life of water based in
water
there was a pool of nutrients energy
floating with atoms and molecules and
and energy lots of energy whether it was
thunder or wind right or the energy of
the earth itself
and at some point in this primordial
pool of
nutrients
a little cell became aware of its
environment
through a mechanism that could be very
similar to taste
a chemical sensing this
cell started receiving and capturing the
energy and the nutrients in its
environment
these cells started eating
food the meaning of food
the meaning of life are intimately
linked
life is really all about energy and
nutrients flowing in a matrix based in
water
that’s what it is that’s what we are
one of the first gastronomers and food
philosophers brian
said that the universe is nothing
without the things that live in it
and everything that lives eats this is
also the guy that said
tell me the way you eat and i will tell
you what kind of human you are
about 1.8 million years ago
we started harnessing fire
like prometheus in greek mythology we
took the fire from the gods and we
became
human this curious ape
a breed of apes started
having a fire at the center of their
homes and their communities
and that was fundamental for us
going from being animals and in nature
to creating
culture and becoming humans something
fundamental changed in our biology in
our bodies
with fire we were able to capture
the nutrients that were in our
environments and make it much more
efficient
to turn those nutrients in nature in
and and turn them into our consciousness
in turning into
power to fuel ourselves as individuals
but also
as communities our brains became bigger
our guts became smaller we started
having more time
to dance to tell stories to
sharpen our tools with that fire that we
had harnessed as well
we are cooking apes we are the only
animals think about it we are the only
animals that control fire
and also the only ones that cook their
food we are creatures
of the flame and i’m just gonna let you
think about what is our relationship
with fire nowadays
like your individual relationship with
fire fire at that time
was considered to be sacred it was
sustenance it was life
and then at some point we shifted from
being hunter-gatherers just trying to
get the best
of uh food and animals and hunting from
our environments by going to places
right we had to
go a long way we had to move with the
seasons and the rains
but at some point something changed and
civilization was born
here this archaeological site called
gobeklitep
this is only been a few years that we
actually discovered this and this
is incredibly transformational for how
we understand the birth of civilization
hence what it is
there’s a site that changed completely
what we understand what it means to be
human
goblin tepe is a place where 10 000
years ago
there was a settlement in that
settlement
at the center there was a temple
around this temple this is 2 000 years
before we think
agriculture was born around this temple
humans gathered
shared belief system imagine
our ancestors having control over fire
having a place to meet to celebrate to
exchange seeds
to tell stories to create culture to
start writing
you know starting to create ways in
which we could
remember the history this is really
where we started
what does this mean shared belief system
before agriculture that’s a game changer
we thought agriculture
had created the first cities and hence
the first institutions of power and
hence
the first villages and civilization as
we know it
but it was about a shared common belief
system
and then from there we started you know
the the following thousands of years
we started traveling uh further and
further away building bigger and bigger
structures being able to mobilize
our communities our families our tribes
to to lift up
heavier and heavier stones creating
things together and
as we see in the roman empire it was all
based on trade this was the emergence of
global trade and that is
you know we lived in a globalized world
now this is where it started
2000 years ago over 2000 years ago
and what were we changing we were
exchanging oysters salt
wine olive oil right and stories of
course
and that is also where money was created
200 years ago the cities started
changing
drastically and at an increasing speed
for the simple reason that we invented
the steam engine and that is where the
age of fossil fuels started
at the center of cities only 200 years
ago this means
maybe three four generations ago right
our great-grandfathers
lived in cities where like london and
new york at the center
there was food there were food markets
there was cattle animals
and cheese and eggs and vegetables and
all the things that we needed to fuel
the city
with the invention of the steam engine
we started growing very fast and this is
the fast world that we live in now
started
really exploding at that time
now today
november 2019 it does feel like this is
a turning point in the history of our
planet
it’s a turning point in our shared
history here as a human family
we are industrialized we have
industrialized nature
did you know that two-thirds of the
forests that were here two three hundred
years ago
two-thirds they’re gone we’ve cut it all
in order to grow more food
this is a recent paper that came in
showing the extent at which we are
covering
the surface of the ocean over 50 of the
surface of the ocean
today is being fished it’s being
extracted of its
of its food by the way did you know that
bluefin tuna from a conservation
standpoint
is under threat of
disappearing it is under threatened
there’s another species that is
threatened panda bears
you know panda bears are cute
eating bluefin tuna from a conservation
standpoint from an ethical standpoint is
like eating panda
the food waste paradox is that
we are producing more food than we need
right now
and about a third of the food that we
produce as a species
is going to waste one-third of all the
food
eight percent of global carbon emissions
is caused
by food waste according to the u.n eight
percent that is
two or three times more than all
aviation
food waste and of course there is the
side result of that
we are entering a new geological era the
anthropocene the age of humans
and we’re now seeing from space
an ocean like a whole continent of
plastic in the pacific
most of that plastic is related to food
consumption
all the plastic that you see in this
image or most of it was related to
someone eating something or drinking
something
that is our impact we are degrading
ecosystems as we were hearing earlier
at an increasing speed we are losing
life
for the first time in the history of the
planet we are losing life we’re not
creating more diversity we’re not
harboring more life we’re actually
burning our house and that is why i
think that
this year is there’s a big metamorphosis
happening
as a species there’s a big awakening
we are in crisis this is what’s
happening today
we’re just over consuming forgetting to
be grateful
forgetting that food is sacred that food
is life
let me tell you a little bit about how i
got here um
i started cooking as a chef working in
michelin star restaurants and really
trying to understand the arts and the
technique
of cooking but soon i realized that the
power of food was much more than just
nice fine dining restaurant and also
cooking mostly
if not only for privileged people
and then i realized that there was so
much more so i started
using food as a medium to communicate
ideas to communicate
messages to embed knowledge and wisdom
knowledge and wisdom that people would
put in their bodies
and literally embody food
is our most intimate connection to
nature
the most intimate connection that we
have with our planetary
orb i ended up doing research in
experimental psychology understanding
the senses
understanding the human mind how we make
up beauty and meaning
through our senses and i got really
interested into behavior change
how can we continue in this way just
eating our way out through the planet
and it’s actually delicious
evolution has been powered by
deliciousness by pleasure
so if we want to evolve from now we have
to use that pleasure
as a tool for change and it’s not
all it’s not all doom and gloom you know
we’re in a crisis yes but we’re also
alive and that’s beautiful to celebrate
and there are so many intelligent people
on our planet
there’s so much creativity there’s so
much power so much abundance of food
we have everything we need and more this
is the most comprehensive plan
to reverse climate change project
drawdown
out of the top 20 solutions eight
are directly connected to food number
three
reducing food waste number four
eating less animals eating more plants
and that is why in the past year feeling
this methamphosis feeling this huge
change i wanted to give
all the best i could and co-created with
about 150 people
through patreon a guide to conscious
eating
also asking my friends the ones that are
working in
in food that understand behavior change
the best people in our community
to help me design a guide to conscious
eating
so number one let’s eat real food
let’s connect with our farmers the
people that live in our country
let’s connect with the seasons with the
cycles of the planet
let’s be patient growing food let’s
let’s plant food in our homes if we can
let’s really connect with the reality of
food let’s touch the earth
did you know that uh
one of the leading causes of climate
change is actually animal agriculture
we think that it’s you know
transportation or construction or all
that
agriculture the food system is really at
the center of human civilization
scientists have shown all the evidence
you can imagine
showing that following a plant-rich diet
can really be a game changer
and it’s not about depriving ourselves
from the goodness of life
it’s not about stopping to eat animals
it’s about being very conscious of how
precious their life is
they are also family right we’re all
born in this primordial pool
3.8 billion years ago we need to respect
the animals we need to respect and
protect them
question question everything if you
think that a vegan diet
is all you need to do think again go
beyond the facts did you know that if
you eat
avocados from chile you are voting with
your money
to violate basic water rights
there are people that don’t have any
more water in the rivers
because of the global crave for avocado
so think again
question everything question even what
i’m saying right now if you like
something
if you are curious about something go
for yourself and find the information
reducing food waste it’s as simple as
that
imagine eight percent of global carbon
emissions could be reduced
by us just being much more reverent when
it comes to eating
not wasting everything not wasting
anything
about half of the food waste actually
happens in our refrigerators in our very
own plates
be mindful about that every day
what if our food
never touched plastic don’t get me wrong
plastic is an amazing
material and we need plastic but we need
to recycle it
and we need to be conscious that all our
food
at some point touches it and we can make
decisions
that don’t end up in landfills did you
know that landfills
when you have food waste in landfills
mixed with plastic with all the rest
produces methane which is a gas
20 times more potent a greenhouse gas 20
times
more potent than co2 and that’s our
landfills that’s our trash bin
be frugal food is medicine
let’s eat less quantity of better
quality ingredients it’s going to be
good for us
good for the planet food is a powerful
transformational tool imagine if we
taught
at schools all the kids all the new
generation
imagine if we all knew how to cook we
would raise the standards
of living of so many humans we would
raise the standards
of ethics in which in the way which we
exchange with nature and with farmers
there is a massive movement and we are
awakening this year we are
shifting to being the regeneration
homoregenesis the human species
that regenerates the the species that
creates life that lifts up life
earth guardians that’s what we are
that’s what we can be at least
eating is a political act don’t think
that going to the polls every four or
five years is the only way
you have to change things
every single day with the money you have
in your pocket
you are voting for a particular
organization of the food system you are
voting for a particular organization of
the planet
eating is a political act cooking is a
political act
we’re worried about bees right now let’s
support beekeepers we need more
beekeepers
they’re going to take care of having
more bees
i want to ask you what does food really
mean to you
if we are conscious right now if you are
hearing me if you are seeing me
it’s because there are electric pulses
going through your nervous system
stimulated by your senses by your body
platform to interact with reality
that energy came from your food that
energy
at some point was a plant that plant at
some point was harnessing solar energy
we are solar powered very much so think
about that
what does it mean to be conscious we
have
an amazing puzzle in the next decade to
reach the sustainable development goals
of 2030
we all need to act we all have the power
of changing
and it starts with us it starts with who
we are as
humans by the way we eat
and one day maybe we will be in the moon
very soon the first thing we’re going to
try to do is grow food
and if we go to mars the first thing
we’re going to try to do is terraform it
so we can grow food
food is the center of human civilization
it’s also
art it is also culture it’s history
it’s shared life it’s community
it is the source of some of our greatest
joys with our families
what about our planet we can become an
interplanetary species but what about
this
incredible orb of life that is our
responsibility now
the destiny of our species is in
everyone’s mouth
the positive evolution of us
and the planet depends on our diets
thank you so much