A lesson in turning adversaries into allies | Leah Garcés

Transcriber: Ivana Korom Reviewer: Joanna Pietrulewicz

Translator: Ivana Korom Reviewer: Silvia Miguélez

No verán de 2014,

atopábame sentada fronte a un home

que era claramente o meu inimigo.

In the summer of 2014,

O seu nome era Craig Watts,

I found myself sitting across from a man

e é criador de polos.

who, by every definition, was my enemy.

A miña carreira está dedicada a protexer os animais de granxa

His name was Craig Watts,

e a rematar coa agricultura industrial.

and he's a chicken factory farmer.

E ata ese momento da miña vida,

My career is devoted to protecting farmed animals

pasara todo o tempo

and ending factory farming.

loitando contra todo o que este home representaba,

And up until this point in my life,

e agora eu estaba no seu salón.

I had spent every waking moment

O día que coñecín a Craig Watts

standing up against everything this man stood for,

el levaba criando polos uns 22 anos

and now, I was in his living room.

para unha compañía chamada Perdue,

a cuarta empresa de polos máis grande de todo o país.

The day I met Craig Watts

E xa de mozo,

he had been raising chickens for 22 years

el desexara quedar no campo,

for a company called Perdue,

the fourth largest chicken company in the entire country.

nun dos condados máis pobres do estado.

And as a young man,

Así que cando a industria do polo chegou á cidade,

he had yearned for this way to stay on the land

pensou: “Este é un soño feito realidade.”

in one of the poorest counties in the state.

Tomou un préstamo dun cuarto de millón de dólares

So when the chicken industry came to town,

e construíu estes galiñeiros.

he thought, "This is a dream come true."

Perdue dáballe unha cantidade de polos para que os criase,

He took a quarter of a million dollar loan out,

e co que lle pagaban,

ía pagando o préstamo,

and he built these chicken houses.

como unha hipoteca.

Perdue would give him a flock, he'd raise them,

Pero moi pronto enfermaron os polos.

and each flock he'd get paid,

and then he'd pay off in small increments that loan,

É unha granxa industrial,

hai 25,000 polos

like a mortgage.

But pretty soon, the chickens got sick.

nun galiñeiro ateigado,

vivindo nas súas propias feces e respirando amoníaco.

It's a factory farm, after all,

there are 25,000 chickens

E cando os polos enferman, algúns morren.

that are stuffed wall-to-wall,

Pero non che pagan os polos mortos,

living on their own feces, breathing ammonia-laden air.

e Craig comezou a ter problemas para pagar o seu préstamo

And when chickens get sick, some of them die.

decatouse de que cometera un erro,

pero entón xa estaba obrigado a seguir polo contrato.

And you don't get paid for dead chickens,

and Craig started to struggle to pay off his loan,

Cando o coñecín, estaba no límite.

he realized he made a mistake,

but he was all but an indentured servant at this stage.

As débedas parecían interminables.

Así como a morte,

When I met him, he was at a breaking point.

a desesperación e a enfermidade dos seus polos.

The payments seemed never-ending.

Se as persoas intentamos pensar nun sistema alimentario

As did the death,

despair and illness of his chickens.

realmente inxusto, sucio e cruel,

Now, if we humans tried to think of some super unjust,

non poderíamos pensar en nada peor que a agricultura industrial.

Cada ano, 80.000 millóns de animais de granxa

unfair, filthy and cruel food system,

we could not have thought of anything worse than factory farming.

son criados e sacrificados en todo o mundo.

Están metidos en gaiolas e almacéns, e nunca ven o sol.

Eighty billion farmed animals around the world annually

E iso non é só un problema dos animais de granxa.

are raised and slaughtered.

They're stuffed in cages and warehouses never to see the light of day.

A gandaría supón máis emisións de gases de efecto invernadoiro

And that's not just a problem for those farmed animals.

que todos os avións, trens e automóbiles xuntos.

Animal agriculture,

E úsase un terzo da terra cultivable

it accounts for more greenhouse gas emissions

than all of the planes, trains and automobiles put together.

para cultivar pensos para estes animais,

non para nós.

E toda esa terra está chea de cantidades incribles de químicos.

And one third of our arable land is used

to grow feed to feed factory-farmed animals,

E os hábitats de importancia ecolóxica,

rather than ourselves.

como o Amazonas,

And all that land is sprayed with immeasurable chemicals.

sofren de deforestación e incendios

And ecologically important habitats,

para poder alimentar e aloxar a estes animais.

Cando os meus tres fillos medren

like the Amazon,

are cut down and are burnt,

é moi improbable que haxa osos polares,

all so we can feed and house farmed animals.

elefantes de Sumatra, orangutáns.

By the time my three kids grow up,

Na miña vida

there's very unlikely to be polar bears,

o número de paxaros, anfibios, réptiles e mamíferos reduciuse á metade.

Sumatran elephants, orangutans.

E o principal culpable

In my lifetime,

the number of birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals has halved.

é o noso apetito pola carne, os lácteos e os ovos en todo o mundo.

E para min, ata ese momento,

And the main culprit

o malo era Craig Watts.

is our global appetite for meat, dairy and eggs.

E mentres estaba sentada no seu salón,

And for me, up until this point,

o meu temor e a miña rabia convertéronse noutra cousa.

the villain was Craig Watts.

En vergoña.

And as I sat there in his living room,

my fear and my anger turned into something else.

Levaba toda a vida botándolle a culpa, odiándoo, mesmo lle desexara mal.

Shame.

Nin unha vez pensei na súa loita, nas súas opcións.

My whole life I had spent blaming him,

hating him,

I even wished him ill.

Podería ser un aliado potencial?

I had never once

Nunca pensei que se sentise tan atrapado como os polos.

thought about his struggle, his choices.

Could he be a potential ally?

Asi que levabamos horas sentados alí

I never had thought

e pasou o mediodía, pasou a tarde,

he feels as trapped as the chickens.

chegou a escuridade,

e de súpeto el dixo:

So we had been sitting there for hours

“Estás lista para ver os polos?”

and the midday turned into afternoon,

Entón, camiñamos na escuridade

cara a unha destas longas casas grises.

turned into dusk, turned into darkness,

and he suddenly said,

"OK, are you ready to see the chickens?"

El abriu a porta, entramos,

So under the cover of darkness,

e atacounos un cheiro insoportable

we walked towards one of these long, gray houses.

e todos os meus músculos tensáronse, tusín, e chorábanme os ollos.

And he swung open the door

and we stepped inside,

and we were hit with this overpowering smell

Estaba abrumada polo meu malestar,

asi que non mirei ao redor nun principio,

and every muscle in my body tensed up

pero cando mirei, o que vin fíxome chorar.

and I coughed and my eyes teared.

I was too overwhelmed by my own physical discomfort,

Decenas de miles de pitos recén nacidos

I didn't even look around at first,

neste escuro almacén,

but when I did,

what I saw brought me to tears.

sen onde ir nin nada que facer.

Tens of thousands of newly hatched chicks

Nos meses seguintes volvín moitas veces,

in this darkened warehouse

co cineasta Raegan Hodge,

with nowhere to go and nothing to do.

para gravar, entender e gañarme a confianza de Craig.

Over the next few months, I returned many times,

E camiñei polos galiñeiros con el

mentres el recollía polos mortos e moribundos,

with filmmaker Raegan Hodge,

to record, to understand,

polos coas patas magoadas e problemas para respirar e camiñar.

to build trust with Craig.

And I walked his houses with him

E gravámolo todo.

as he picked up dead and dying birds,

birds with messed-up legs and trouble breathing

E entón decidimos facer algo

que non creo que ningún de nós pensara facer cando nos coñecemos.

and difficulty walking.

And all of this we caught on film.

Decidimos publicar ese vídeo.

E isto era realmente arriscado para os dous.

And then we decided to do something

Era arriscado para el, porque podía perder os seus ingresos,

I don't think either he or I ever expected to do when we first met.

a súa casa, a súa terra, os seus veciños odiaríano.

We decided to release that footage.

And that was really risky for both of us.

E eu podería arriscar que a miña organización fose demandada,

It was risky for him because he could lose his income,

ou ser a razón pola que el perdese todo,

his home, his land, his neighbors hating him.

pero tiñamos que facelo igual.

And I could risk getting my organization sued,

or being the reason that he would lose everything,

O New York Times publicou a noticia

but we had to do it anyway.

e en 24 horas, un millón de persoas viran o noso vídeo.

"The New York Times" broke the story

Fíxose viral,

and within 24 hours,

e de súpeto tiñamos esta plataforma global

a million people had seen our video.

para falar da agricultura industrial.

It went viral by every definition,

and suddenly we had this global platform

Traballar con Craig fíxome pensar:

Que outros aliados improbables hai aí fóra?

for talking about factory farming.

And working with Craig got me thinking.

Que outros progresos, que outras leccións podo aprender se cruzo as liñas inimigas?

What other unlikely allies are out there?

A primeira lección que aprendín

What other progress,

what other lessons can I learn if I cross those enemy lines?

é que temos que nos sentir cómodos ante o que sexa incómodo.

Se só falamos con quen está de acordo con nós

The first lesson I learned

non nos vai levar á solución.

is that we have to become comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Temos que estar dispostos a entrar no espazo alleo.

Only talking to people who agree with us,

it's not going to get us to the solution.

Porque moitas veces

o inimigo ten o poder para solucionar o problema

We have to be willing to enter other people's space.

que intentamos resolver.

Eu non estou ao cargo de ningún polo,

Because quite often,

the enemy has the power to change the problem

pero o criador e as empresas cárnicas si.

Así que teño que entrar no seu espazo se quero resolver o problema.

that we're trying to solve.

In my case, I'm not in charge of a single chicken.

E un par de anos despois de traballar con Craig,

The farmer is and so are the meat companies.

volvín facer algo que nunca imaxinara.

So I need to enter their space if I want to solve the problem.

Sentei cun inimigo aínda maior:

And a couple of years after working with Craig,

o mesmo Jim Perdue.

I did something again I never expected to do.

O home ao que fixera o malo do meu vídeo viral.

I sat down with an even bigger so-called enemy:

E de novo, tras conversas difíciles e moita incomodidade,

Jim Perdue himself.

The man I had made the villain of my viral video.

Perdue propuxo a primeira política de coidado dos animais

And again, through difficult conversations

de todas as empresas de polos.

and being uncomfortable,

Nela, acordaban facer

algunhas das cousas que lles criticamos por non facer no vídeo viral,

Perdue came out with the first animal care policy

of any poultry company.

como poñer fiestras nos almacéns.

In it, they agreed to do

E pagar por elas.

some of the things we had criticized them for not doing in the viral video,

E esa foi unha lección moi importante para min.

like put windows into houses.

A segunda lección

And pay for them.

é que cando nos sentamos a negociar co inimigo,

And that was a really important lesson for me.

temos que lembrar que hai un ser humano diante de nós

The second lesson

is that when we sit down to negotiate

que probablemente teña máis en común con nós

with the enemy,

do que queremos admitir.

we need to remember, there's a human being in front of us

E aprendín isto de primeira man

cando me invitaron a visitar a sede dunha gran empresa avícola.

that very likely has more in common with us

Era a primeira vez que invitaban á miña organización,

than we care to admit.

And I learned this firsthand

ou a calquera organización, a visitalos.

when I was invited to visit at a major poultry company's headquarters.

And it was the first time that my organization had been invited,

Mentres camiñábamos polo corredor,

había xente espiando desde os cubículos

and any organization had been invited, to visit with them.

para ver como era un activista polos dereitos dos animais,

And as we walked through the corridor,

e camiñamos...

Teño este aspecto, así que non sei o que esperaban.

there were literally people who were peeking our from the cubicles

(Risas)

to get a quick look at what does an animal rights activist look like,

Pero cando entramos na sala de reunións,

and we walked --

había un directivo, alí sentado.

I look like this, so I don't know what they were expecting.

E tiña os brazos cruzados, e non me quería alí.

(Laughter)

But as we walked into the boardroom,

Abrín o meu portátil, e apareceu a miña foto de fondo,

there was an executive who was in charge, sitting there.

And his arms were crossed

unha foto dos meus fillos.

and he did not want me to be there.

A miña filla é claramente diferente dos meus fillos.

And I flipped open my laptop,

and my background photo came up,

E cando viu esa foto descruzouse de brazos,

and it was a picture of my three kids.

inclinou a cabeza, acercouse e dixo:

My daughter clearly looks different than my sons.

“Son os teus fillos?”

And when he saw that photo he uncrossed his arms

Respondín: “Si. Acabo de adoptar á miña filla...”

and he tilted his head and he leaned forward and he said,

E falei sen parar, demasiado para unha reunión profesional.

"Are those your kids?"

Paroume e dixo:

And I said, "Yeah.

I just got back from adopting my daughter -- "

"Teño dous fillos adoptados."

And I babbled on way too much for a professional meeting.

E durante os 20 minutos seguintes só falamos diso.

And he stopped me and he said,

"I have two adopted kids."

Falamos de adopcións e de ser pais e nais,

e neses momentos,

And for the next 20 minutes,

esquecémonos de quen debíamos ser nesa mesa.

we just talked about that.

We talked about adoption and being a parent

E caeron os muros,

and in those moments,

construíuse unha ponte e a cruzamos.

we forgot who we were supposed to be

Progresamos máis con esa empresa

at that table.

And the walls came down,

por esa conexión humana que fixemos.

and a bridge was built and we crossed this divide.

And more progress was made with that company

A miña última lección para vós

é que ao sentarnos co noso suposto inimigo

because of that human connection that we made.

debemos buscar que todos gañemos.

My last lesson for you

En vez de falar con granxeiros como Craig Watts, pensando:

is that when we sit down with the so-called enemy,

“Teño que facer que deixe a agricultura industrial,”

we need to look for the win-win.

Comecei a pensar como podo axudarlles a ser granxeiros diferentes,

Instead of going in with farmers like Craig Watts

por exemplo, que cultivasen cánabo ou cogomelos.

and thinking, "I need to put them out of farming,"

E un granxeiro co que traballei despois, fixo exactamente iso.

I started to think how can I help them be different kinds of farmers,

Fixo unha gravación comigo contando a súa situación,

like, growing hemp or mushrooms.

e tamén a publicamos no New York Times,

And a farmer I later worked with did exactly that.

pero el foi máis aló.

Deixou a agricultura industrial,

e resulta que eses galiñeiros longos e grises

He did do the exposé with me and filmed,

and we went with "The New York Times" again,

son o lugar perfecto

but he went beyond that.

He quit chicken factory farming,

para criar outra cousa.

and it turns out

(Risas)

that those big, long, gray warehouses

are the perfect environment

(Aplausos)

for growing something else.

Iso é cánabo.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

(Applause)

Aquí tes unha forma ecolóxica de quedar no campo,

That's hemp, people, that's hemp.

(Laughter)

e pagar as contas,

que apoian unha activista vegana

Here is an environmentally friendly way to stay on the land,

e un criador de polos.

(Risas)

to pay the bills,

E en vez de pensar

that a vegan animal rights activist

como podo acabar con estas grandes empresas cárnicas,

and a chicken farmer can get behind.

(Laughter)

comecei a pensar como axudarlles a ir cara a outro tipo de negocio.

And instead of thinking,

Un onde a proteína non proceda de animais sacrificados

how can I get these big meat companies out of business,

senón de plantas.

I started thinking, how can I help them evolve into a different kind of business.

E, crean ou non,

esas grandes empresas comezan a ir nesa dirección.

One where the protein doesn't come from slaughtered animals,

Cargill, Tyson e Perdue están a engadir proteínas vexetais

but rather, plants.

And believe it or not,

these big companies are starting to move their ships in that direction.

na súa cadea de subministración.

E o mesmo Perdue dixo:

Cargill and Tyson and Perdue are adding plant-based proteins

“A nosa empresa é unha empresa líder en proteínas,

into their supply chain.

e nada diso di que teñan que vir de animais.”

And Perdue himself said that,

E en Atlanta, a miña cidade natal,

"Our company is a premium protein company,

and nothing about that says that it has to come from animals."

KFC e Beyond Meat fixeron unha proba dun día,

vendendo “nuggets” de polo de orixe vexetal.

And in my own home town of Atlanta,

E foi unha tolemia,

as colas deron a volta á esquina,

KFC did a one-day trial with Beyond Meat,

houbo tráfico detido en todas direccións,

for plant-based chicken nuggets.

nin que repartiran entradas gratis de Beyoncé.

And it was insane,

A xente está preparada para o cambio.

there were lines wrapped around the corner,

there was traffic stopped in all directions,

Temos que construír unha gran carpa

you would think they were giving out free Beyoncé tickets.

People are ready for this shift.

baixo a cal todos poidan meterse.

Desde o criador de polos

ata a gran empresa cárnica

We need to build a big tent

e a activista polos dereitos dos animais.

that everyone can get under.

Estas leccións poden aplicarse a moitas causas,

From the chicken factory farmer,

to the mega meat company,

xa sexa un problema cunha exparella,

to the animal rights activist.

And these lessons,

cun veciño, ou cos sogros.

they can apply to many causes,

Ou con algúns dos maiores problemas de explotación e opresión,

whether it be with a problem with an ex,

a neighbor or an in-law.

coma a agricultura industrial,

a misoxinia, o racismo ou o cambio climático.

Or with some of the biggest problems of exploitation and oppression,

Os problemas máis pequenos e grandes do mundo

like factory farming,

or misogyny or racism or climate change.

non se resolverán vencendo aos nosos inimigos,

senón atopando xuntos formas de que todos gañemos.

The world's smallest and biggest problems,

Isto require que deixemos de lado esa idea de nós contra eles

they won't be solved by beating down our enemies

but by finding these win-win pathways together.

It does require us

e que nos decatemos de que só hai un “nós”,

to let go of that idea of us versus them

todos nós,

contra un sistema inxusto.

and realize there's only one us,

É difícil, complicado e incómodo.

all of us,

against an unjust system.

Pero é fundamental.

E quizais o único xeito de construír ese sistema alimentario compasivo

And it is difficult,

and messy, and uncomfortable.

But it is critical.

que todos, desde o polo ata o criador de polos

And maybe the only way

ata a gran empresa cárnica, e todos nós,

to build that compassionate food system

merecemos.

that we all, from the chicken to the chicken farmer

Grazas.

(Aplausos)

to the mega meat company, to all of us,

deserve.

Thank you.

(Applause)