Whats wrong with our food system Birke Baehr

hello my name is Bert Baer 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 how easily kids rolla

to believe all the marketing 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 graze on grass all day what I

discovered was this is not true I began

to look into the 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 what seed is

manipulated in a laboratory to do

something not in tune by nature like

taking the DNA of 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

the seeds the seeds our complaintant

then grow the food they produce an

improvement cost cancer and other

problems of lab animals and people have

been eat food produced this way since

the 1990s most folks don’t even know

they exist

did you know rats fed genetically

engineered corn had developed signs of

liver and kidney toxicity these include

kidney inflammation and lesions in the

crease kidney wait yeah almost all the

corn wheat has been altered in ethically

in some way and let me tell you corn

isn’t everything and don’t even get me

started on the confined animal feeding

operations called K flows conventional

farmers use chemical fertilizers made

from fossil fuels 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 up into our waterways

poisoning our water too then they are

radiates our food trying to make it last

longer so it can travel thousands of

miles from what’s grown to the

supermarkets 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 while back I wanted to be an NFL

football player I decided that I’d

rather be an organic farmer instead

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 homeschooled I want

to go here 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 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

neighbors 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 I know

now I know definitely which one I would

choose I want you to know that there are

farms out there I built here and so qua

Chico’s farms in Tennessee whose cows do

t grass and his pigs do own the mug just

like I thought

sometimes I got to Bill’s farm and

volunteer so I can see up close and

personal where the meat comes from I

want you to know that I believe kids

wheat fresh vegetables and good food

ethic nor more about it and her 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 not too long ago my

uncle said that he offered my six year

old cousin cereal he asked if he wanted

organic touch the O’s or the

sugar-coated flakes you know the one of

the big stripe and cartoon character on

the front my little cousin told his dad

that he would rather have the organic

touch with Oh cereal because Burke said

he shouldn’t eat sparkly cereal and that

my friends is how we can make a

difference one K at a time so next time

you’re at the grocery store

think local choose organic know your

font and know your food

you