A guerilla gardener in South Central LA | Ron Finley

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Translator: Aina Serra Reviewer: Judit Piñol (Amara Staff)

I live in South Central.

Visc a South Central.

This is South Central:

Això és South Central:

liquor stores,

botigues de licors,

fast food,

menjar ràpid,

vacant lots.

solars buits.

So the city planners, they get together and they figure

Els urbanistes es reuneixen i decideixen

they're going to change the name South Central to make it represent something else,

que canviaràn el nom de South Central per fer que representi quelcom diferent,

so they change it to South Los Angeles,

i el canvien per South Los Angeles,

like this is going to fix what's really going wrong in the city.

com si això arreglés el que realment va malament a la ciutat.

This is South Los Angeles. (Laughter)

Això és South Los Angeles. (Riure)

Liquor stores,

Botigues de licors,

fast food,

menjar ràpid,

vacant lots.

solars buits.

Just like 26.5 million other Americans,

Com els altres 26.5 milions d'americans,

I live in a food desert,

visc en un desert alimentari,

South Central Los Angeles,

South Central Los Angeles,

home of the drive-thru and the drive-by.

llar dels auto-restaurants i dels tiroteigs.

Funny thing is, the drive-thrus are killing more people than the drive-bys.

El més graciós és que els auto-restaurants maten més persones que els tiroteigs.

People are dying from curable diseases

La població mor de malalties curables

in South Central Los Angeles.

a South Central Los Angeles.

For instance, the obesity rate in my neighborhood

Per exemple, la taxa d'obesitat al meu barri

is five times higher than, say, Beverly Hills,

és cinc cops més elevada que, diguem, a Beverly Hills,

which is probably eight, 10 miles away.

que és a uns 13 o 16 quilòmetres de distància.

I got tired of seeing this happening.

Estic cansat de veure-ho.

And I was wondering, how would you feel

I em preguntava com us sentiríeu

if you had no access to healthy food,

si no tinguéssiu accés a menjar sa,

if every time you walk out your door you see the ill effects

si cada cop que sortíssiu per la porta veiéssiu els efectes malaltissos

that the present food system has on your neighborhood?

que l'actual sistema alimentari causa a la vostra barriada?

I see wheelchairs bought and sold

Veig com es compren i es venen cadires de rodes

like used cars.

com si fossin cotxes de segona mà.

I see dialysis centers popping up like Starbucks.

Apareixen centres de diàlisi com Starbucks.

And I figured, this has to stop.

I crec que això s'ha d'acabar.

So I figured that the problem is the solution.

Em sembla que el problema és la solució.

Food is the problem and food is the solution.

El menjar és el problema i el menjar és la solució.

Plus I got tired of driving 45 minutes round trip

A més, ja m'he cansat de conduïr 45 minuts

to get an apple that wasn't impregnated with pesticides.

per aconseguir una poma que no estigui coberta de pesticides.

So what I did, I planted a food forest in front of my house.

Per això, vaig plantar un bosc comestible davant de casa,

It was on a strip of land that we call a parkway.

a un trosset de terra al que anomenem passeig.

It's 150 feet by 10 feet.

Fa 45 metres per 3 metres.

Thing is, it's owned by the city.

És propietat de la ciutat,

But you have to maintain it.

però ho hem de mantenir nosaltres.

So I'm like, "Cool. I can do whatever the hell I want,

Va ser com: "Mola, puc fer el que em doni la gana,

since it's my responsibility and I gotta maintain it."

ja que és responsabilitat meva i ho he de mantenir."

And this is how I decided to maintain it.

I vaig decidir mantenir-ho així.

So me and my group, L.A. Green Grounds, we got together

El meu grup i jo, L.A Green Grounds ens vam unir

and we started planting my food forest, fruit trees,

i vam començar a plantar el bosc comestible, arbres fruiters,

you know, the whole nine, vegetables.

bé, de tot, verdures.

What we do, we're a pay-it-forward kind of group,

Som una mena de grup de cadena de favors

where it's composed of gardeners from all walks of life,

format per jardiners de totes les classes,

from all over the city, and it's completely volunteer,

de tota la ciutat, és completament voluntari,

and everything we do is free.

i tot el que fem és gratuit.

And the garden, it was beautiful.

El jardí era preciós.

And then somebody complained.

I algú es va queixar.

The city came down on me,

La ciutat se'm va tirar a sobre,

and basically gave me a citation saying that I had to remove my garden,

i em van enviar una citació que deia que havia de treure el jardí,

which this citation was turning into a warrant.

i aquesta citació és va convertir en una ordre judicial.

And I'm like, "Come on, really?

I va ser com: "No fotis, de veritat?

A warrant for planting food on a piece of land

Una ordre judicial per sembrar aliments en un tros de terra

that you could care less about?" (Laughter)

del qual ningú se'n preocupa?" (Riure)

And I was like, "Cool. Bring it."

Em vaig quedar: "D'acord. Vinga."

Because this time it wasn't coming up.

Perquè aquest cop no funcionaria.

So L.A. Times got ahold of it. Steve Lopez did a story on it

Així que l'L.A. Times se'n va assabentar. Steve Lopez va escriure un article

and talked to the councilman,

i va parlar amb el regidor,

and one of the Green Grounds members,

i un dels membres de Green Grounds,

they put up a petition on Change.org,

va crear una petició a Change.org,

and with 900 signatures, we were a success.

i amb 900 signatures, vam ser un èxit.

We had a victory on our hands.

Teniem la victòria.

My councilman even called in and said how they endorse

Fins i tot el regidor va trucar per donar el seu suport

and love what we're doing.

i va dir que li encantava el que fèiem.

I mean, come on, why wouldn't they?

Vull dir, vinga, com no els hi hauria d'agradar?

L.A. leads the United States in vacant lots that the city actually owns.

Los Angeles és la ciutat nord-americana que poseeix més solars buits.

They own 26 square miles of vacant lots.

Té uns 65 kilòmetres quadrats de solars buits.

That's 20 Central Parks.

Això són 20 Central Parks.

That's enough space to plant 725 million tomato plants.

És prou espai com per sembrar-hi 725 milions de tomaqueres.

Why in the hell would they not okay this?

Per què no ho hauríen de voler, això?

Growing one plant will give you 1,000, 10,000 seeds.

Una sola planta produeix 1.000, 10.000 llavors.

When one dollar's worth of green beans

Un dòlar de mongetes verdes

will give you 75 dollars' worth of produce.

produeix 75 dòlars de producte.

It's my gospel, when I'm telling people, grow your own food.

Dir a les persones que cultivin els seus aliments és el meu evangeli.

Growing your own food is like printing your own money.

Conrear el teu menjar és com imprimir els teus diners.

(Applause)

(Aplaudiments)

See, I have a legacy in South Central.

Veieu? Hi deixo un llegat, a South Central.

I grew up there. I raised my sons there.

Hi vaig crèixer. Els meus fills hi van crèixer.

And I refuse to be a part of this manufactured reality

I em nego a formar part d'aquesta realitat fabricada

that was manufactured for me by some other people,

que ha estat fabricada per a mi per altres persones,

and I'm manufacturing my own reality.

i m'estic fabricant la meva pròpia realitat.

See, I'm an artist.

Ho veieu? Sóc un artista.

Gardening is my graffiti. I grow my art.

La jardineria és el meu grafit. Cultivo el meu art.

Just like a graffiti artist, where they beautify walls,

Com un grafiter que embelleix les parets,

me, I beautify lawns, parkways.

jo, jo embelleixo els solars, els passeigs.

I use the garden, the soil, like it's a piece of cloth,

Empro el jardí, el sòl, com si fos un tros de tela,

and the plants and the trees,

i les plantes i els arbres,

that's my embellishment for that cloth.

són els embellidors d'aquesta tela.

You'd be surprised what the soil could do

Us sorprendria què pot fer el sòl

if you let it be your canvas.

si deixes que sigui el teu llenç.

You just couldn't imagine how amazing a sunflower is

No us podeu imaginar l'increïble que és un gira-sol

and how it affects people.

i com afecta les persones.

So what happened?

¿I què va passar?

I have witnessed my garden become a tool for the education,

He vist com el meu jardí s'ha convertit en una eina educativa,

a tool for the transformation of my neighborhood.

una eina per a transformar la meva barriada.

To change the community, you have to change the composition of the soil.

Per canviar una comunitat, has de canviar la composició del sòl.

We are the soil.

Nosaltres som el sòl.

You'd be surprised how kids are affected by this.

Us sorprendria com això pot afectar els nens.

Gardening is the most therapeutic

La jardineria és l'acte més terapèutic

and defiant act you can do,

i desafiant que pots fer,

especially in the inner city.

especialment al centre de la ciutat.

Plus you get strawberries.

I a més, tens maduixes.

(Laughter)

(Riure)

I remember this time,

Recordo una vegada,

there was this mother and a daughter came,

que van venir una mare i una filla,

it was, like, 10:30 at night, and they were in my yard,

sobre les 10:30 de la nit, eren al meu jardí

and I came out and they looked so ashamed.

i les vaig enxampar, estaven tan avergonyides.

So I'm like, man, it made me feel bad that they were there,

I va ser com, home, que fossin allà em va fer sentir fatal,

and I told them, you know, you don't have to do this like this.

i els hi vaig dir: "No cal que ho feu així.

This is on the street for a reason.

És al carrer per algun motiu.

It made me feel ashamed to see people

Em feia vergonya veure com persones

that were this close to me that were hungry,

tan properes a mi passaven gana,

and this only reinforced why I do this,

i això em va motivar encara més,

and people asked me, "Fin, aren't you afraid

i la gent em preguntava: "Fin, no et preocupa

people are going to steal your food?"

que la gent et robi el menjar?"

And I'm like, "Hell no, I ain't afraid they're gonna steal it.

I és com, "Collons no, no em preocupa que se l'emportin.

That's why it's on the street.

Per això és al carrer.

That's the whole idea.

Aquesta és la idea.

I want them to take it, but at the same time,

Vull que se l'emportin, i, al mateix temps,

I want them to take back their health."

vull que recuperin la seva salut".

There's another time when I put

Un cop, vaig posar

a garden in this homeless shelter in downtown Los Angeles.

un jardí a un refugi per desamparats al centre de Los Angeles.

These are the guys, they helped me unload the truck.

Aquí els tenim. Em van ajudar a descarregar la camioneta.

It was cool, and they just shared the stories

Va molar. Es van posar a compartir històries

about how this affected them and how

de com això els afectava i de com

they used to plant with their mother and their grandmother,

solien sembrar amb les seves mares i les seves àvies,

and it was just cool to see how this changed them,

i va ser genial veure com això els canviava,

if it was only for that one moment.

tot i que fos per un moment.

So Green Grounds has gone on to plant

Així que Green Grounds ha seguit sembrant

maybe 20 gardens.

potser uns 20 jardins.

We've had, like, 50 people come to our dig-ins

Han vingut unes 50 persones a cavar,

and participate, and it's all volunteers.

a participar-hi, tots voluntaris.

If kids grow kale, kids eat kale.

Si els nens cultiven col, els nens menjaran col.

(Laughter)

(Riure)

If they grow tomatoes, they eat tomatoes. (Applause)

Si cultiven tomàquets, menjaran tomàquets. (Aplaudiments)

But when none of this is presented to them,

Però quan no se'ls presenta res de tot això,

if they're not shown how food affects the mind and the body,

si no els ensenyem com el menjar afecta la ment i el cos,

they blindly eat whatever the hell you put in front of them.

menjaran qualsevol cosa que els posis al davant.

I see young people

Veig que hi ha gent jove

and they want to work,

que vol treballar,

but they're in this thing where they're caught up --

però estan atrapats...

I see kids of color and they're just on this track

Veig que hi ha nens de color que només segueixen

that's designed for them,

el camí dissenyat per a ells,

that leads them to nowhere.

un camí que no els porta enlloc.

So with gardening, I see an opportunity

Amb la jardineria, veig l'oportunitat

where we can train these kids

de preparar aquests nens

to take over their communities,

per a que agafin les regnes de les seves comunitats,

to have a sustainable life.

per a que tinguin una vida sostenible.

And when we do this, who knows?

I fent això, qui sap?

We might produce the next George Washington Carver.

Potser sortirà el proper George Washington Carver.

but if we don't change the composition of the soil,

Pero si no canviem la composició del sòl,

we will never do this.

no ho aconseguirem mai.

Now this is one of my plans. This is what I want to do.

Ara aquest és un dels meus plans. És el que vull fer.

I want to plant a whole block of gardens

Vull sembrar un conjunt de jardins

where people can share in the food in the same block.

on la gent pugui compartir el menjar.

I want to take shipping containers

Vull agafar contenidors d'embarcament

and turn them into healthy cafes.

i convertir-los en cafeteries saludables.

Now don't get me wrong.

No em malinterpreteu.

I'm not talking about no free shit,

No parlo de coses de franc.

because free is not sustainable.

perquè allò de franc no és sostenible.

The funny thing about sustainability,

El més graciós de la sostenibilitat,

you have to sustain it.

és que l'has de sostenir.

(Laughter) (Applause)

(Riure) (Aplaudiments)

What I'm talking about is putting people to work,

Em refereixo a posar la gent a treballar,

and getting kids off the street, and letting them know

i a treure els nens del carrer. Fer que s'adonin

the joy, the pride and the honor in growing your own food,

de l'alegria, l'orgull i l'honor que suposa conrear el propi menjar,

opening farmer's markets.

obrir mercats de pagès.

So what I want to do here,

Doncs el que vull fer aquí...

we gotta make this sexy.

Ho hem de fer atractiu.

So I want us all to become ecolutionary renegades,

Vull que us convertiu en revolucionaris ecològics,

gangstas, gangsta gardeners.

mafiosos, jardiners mafiosos.

We gotta flip the script on what a gangsta is.

Hem de canviar el nostre concepte de mafiós.

If you ain't a gardener, you ain't gangsta.

Si no ets un jardiner, no ets un mafiós.

Get gangsta with your shovel, okay?

Sigues mafiós amb la pala, d'acord?

And let that be your weapon of choice.

I que aquesta sigui la teva eina d'elecció.

(Applause)

(Aplaudiments)

So basically, if you want to meet with me,

Bàsicament, si em voleu conèixer,

you know, if you want to meet,

vull dir, si és el que voleu,

don't call me if you want to sit around in cushy chairs

no em truqueu per seure a cadires encoixinades

and have meetings where you talk about doing some shit --

i fer reunions per parlar de fer qualsevol merda...

where you talk about doing some shit.

de parlar de qualsevol merda.

If you want to meet with me, come to the garden

Si em voleu conèixer, veniu al jardí

with your shovel so we can plant some shit.

amb una pala per què plantem coses.

Peace. Thank you.

Pau. Gràcies.

(Applause)

(Aplaudiments)

Thank you. (Applause)

Gràcies. (Aplaudiments)