Without farmers, you'd be hungry, naked and sober | Eric Sannerud

翻译人员: Yan Gao 校对人员: Yolanda Zhang

So what do people usually say when you're about to give a public talk?

要上台演讲前， 人们通常怎么说来着？

It's to imagine that your audience is naked.

想象你的观众都是没穿衣服的。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Well, I'm doing a different trick tonight,

我今天换个别的技巧，

and I'm going to imagine all of us without farmers,

我要想象的是，如何没有农民， 大家的生活会是什么样，

and well, it's not so much different.

其实，也没太大区别。

[Without farmers you'd be hungry, naked and sober]

【没有农民，你没饭吃、 没衣服穿、没酒喝】

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And our farmers do so much more for us

农民为我们做了太多事，

than simply feed and clothe and provide us excellent things to drink.

不仅是食物、衣服和美酒。

Our farmers are an important part of all of our communities,

农民是我们所有社区里 非常重要的部分，

particularly our rural communities.

特别是在农村。

And more than that,

不仅如此，

they're a strong driver of resilient economics.

农民还是弹性经济 强劲的推动力。

Think about it this way:

举个例子：

When a brewer buys hops from me, grown here in Minnesota,

如果酿酒厂从我这里购买 明尼苏达州本地种植的酒花，

90 percent of that dollar stays in our state,

90% 的钱会留在我们州，

compared to just 10 percent when they buy it from somewhere else.

相反，如果从其他地方买酒花， 留在明州的只有 10%。

这件事意味着很多东西。

What that means is a lot.

That 90 percent means local jobs.

这 90% 意味着本地工作岗位；

It means tax revenue for better schools and roads.

意味着这些税收可以用来 修建更好的学校和道路；

It means support for the co-ops, the mechanics,

意味着能支持合作社、机械工，

all the support staff that are needed for a farm to thrive.

支持农场所需要的 一切从业人员。

And they're our best stewards of the land.

他们是土地的最佳管理者。

This quote, I think, exemplifies what our family farmers do for us

我认为，这句话道出了 在管理自然资源方面

in stewarding our shared natural resources.

家庭农场的贡献。

"That land is a community is the basic concept of ecology,

“土地是一个社区， 这是生态学基本概念，

但对土地的爱和尊重 是伦理道德的延伸。”

but that land is to be loved and respected as an extension of ethics."

Now, they sure do a lot of good stuff for us.

当然，土地肯定会 带给我们很多好处。

And our family farmers are great, we'd all agree.

家庭农场也很棒，大家都同意。

However,

但是，

the trends in agriculture today are dire.

如今农业的发展趋势很可怕。

The average age of a farmer in America,

最新的农业人口普查结果显示：

according to the latest agricultural census --

美国农民的平均年龄是

58.3.

58.3 岁。

Of all the farmers,

所有农民中，

33 percent are 65 plus.

33% 在 65 岁以上。

That's a little caricature of my grandpa.

这漫画头像是我爷爷。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

He's still farming,

他还在“干农活”，

and he's much older than 65.

他早就过了 65 岁。

But to put that in perspective,

与之相比，

另一个重要的公共服务岗位：教师，

another important public service job, teaching,

average age of teachers is 42.

从业者的平均年龄是 42 岁。

Our farmers are pretty old in this country.

这个国家的农民真的很老了。

And unfortunately,

不幸的是，

when they retire, if they retire,

他们退休时——如果他们退休了——

we're not really replacing them.

没有新人来补充。

Of all the farmers that we added in this country

在 2008 到 2012 年间，

between 2008 and 2012,

整个美国范围内

across the entire United States --

新增的农民——

see if you can catch this difference --

试下能不能看出区别——

we added 2,000 under the age of 30.

增加了 2000 名 30 岁以下的农民。

I'm one of those.

我就是其中一个。

I'll be around to autograph some photos later, if you'd like.

待会儿我会留下跟大家合影的。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

But, you know, our farmers are getting older

但是，农民越来越老，

and we're not replacing them --

却没有新人补充，

what's going on here?

到底怎么回事？

What are we going to do?

我们该怎么办？

And I think there's a reason folks aren't coming into it,

我认为没人来做农民的原因，

就是低收入。

and that's prices.

We're going to go through a couple of slides like this.

来看几张图吧。

牛奶：美国一加仑牛奶的平均零售价，

Milk: This is the average retail price of a gallon of milk in the United States.

4.49 美元。

Four dollars forty-nine cents.

How much do you think the farmer gets?

你觉得农民能拿到多少？

Dollar thirty-two.

1.32 美元。

再看看面包。

We'll try again with bread.

美国的面包平均零售价， 3.49 美元。

Average retail price of bread in America, three forty-nine.

Farmer gets ...

农民能拿到

Twelve cents.

0.12 美元。

观众：啊？！

Audience: Oh!

And so how are we supposed to have strong local farms

那在这种情况下，怎么可能

in this scenario?

发展本地农场？

What are we supposed to do if there aren't any local farmers left?

如果本地没有农场了， 我们怎么办？

And this isn't just a farmer problem,

这不只是农民的问题，

it's not just something for the few of us farmers to sort out.

不仅仅是我们几个农民要解决的事。

This is an all-of-us problem.

这是关乎每一个人的问题。

This is rural and it's urban and it's statewide and it's nationwide.

是农村、城市、全州、全国的问题。

So what do we do about it?

那么我们要做些什么？

I'll tell you that.

我会告诉你们答案。

But first, a story.

但首先，我要讲个故事。

The green movement, we're all kind of familiar,

绿色运动，我们都比较熟悉，

started in the '60s, planting trees.

60 年代开始的全民种树运动。

And now we've come such a long way.

现在已经发展得非常好。

Green is part of our day-to-day lives.

绿色变成日常生活的一部分。

It's part of the day-to-day lives of Fortune 500 businesses.

也是世界五百强的日常。

It's the subject of international treaties,

它是国际条约的主题，

the subject of presidential debates.

总统辩论的主题。

You and I, we switch our light bulbs,

至于你我，我们换节能灯泡，

we use reusable bags.

不用塑料袋。

We participate in the green movement each and every day.

我们每一天都在参与绿色运动。

Yet ...

那么，

and this is how we get to the idea --

我们借此想到——

the food movement,

食品运动，

relatively younger, but also somewhat familiar, I imagine.

时间比较短， 但我猜大家多少也是了解的。

You go to the grocery store,

你到杂货店买东西时，

you see a sign that says "Buy local,"

能看到“买本地产品”的牌子，

you go to the farmers market, you go to the co-op,

大家到农贸市场、合作社买东西，

you read books by prominent authors.

优秀作家也为此出书。

The food movement to date

食品运动发展到今天

could be summarized as voting with your fork.

可以总结为“用饭勺投票”。

The idea is: you pull a dollar out of your wallet --

它的理念是：掏出一美元时，

how you spend that dollar affects the food system.

把它花在哪里，影响着食品系统。

It supports farmers close to home.

它能支持你家附近的农民。

And that's all well and good, but where are we going?

这个想法很好， 但我们的目标是什么呢？

How do we get to our renewable-energy moment

怎样把我们的再生能源运动

like the green movement did?

发展得像绿色运动一样成功？

And this, I think, is what we need to do.

而这些就是我认为我们需要做的。

Just voting with our fork is not solving the issues

仅仅用饭勺投票，并不能解决

that our farmers are facing.

农民所面对的问题。

And so we need to do more than that.

我们要做的不止这些。

I believe we must move on from just voting with our fork

我相信必须要从 “用饭勺投票”再进一步，

to voting with our vote.

做到“用投票权投票”。

We need to take our dollars

我们需要把自己的钱

and continue to spend them locally.

继续花在本地产品上。

我们也需要为了农民 去投票站投票。

We also need to show up at the ballot box for our farmers.

This is bigger than just buying local strawberries

与每年在附近采摘草莓相比，

once a year at a pick-your-own.

投票更重要。

This is a year-round effort that we must make together

这是大家要全年一起努力

to make the change we need.

才能做出改变的事。

Changes like fair pricing for farmers.

像公平定价这种改变

That's quotas, supply management,

需要配额、供应链管理、

guaranteed prices.

价格担保。

Changes like fair and open trade.

要实现公平贸易、开放贸易这些变化,

That means ending trade wars.

意味着要结束贸易战。

And yeah, of course it means voting.

当然，这也意味着投票。

Now we all knew that one already, though.

现在大家都已经知道了。

For example, it's working.

比如，投票是有用的。

Hey, who's that?

嘿，那是谁？ （演讲者本人）

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Just this year in Minnesota,

今年，在明尼苏达州，

we've passed a historic, first-in-the-country tax credit.

我们通过了历史性的 全国首创的税收减免政策。

The Beginning Farmer Tax Credit.

新农民税收减免。

It incentivizes our transition of land

它鼓励我们把土地

from the existing generation to the next generation.

从现在的一代传递到下一代。

That was done by a handful of us young farmers --

那是我们几个年轻农民促成的——

we certainly don't have money, you saw that earlier.

我们当然没钱，前面已经看到了。

We don't have political experience.

我们也没有政治经验。

But we showed up, and we made our voices heard.

但我们站出来了， 人们听到了我们的声音。

And thanks to the support of farmers and non-farmers alike,

感谢大家的支持， 包括农民和非农民，

we got something incredible done here in this state.

我们在这个州取得了重大进展。

If we can do it, anybody can do it.

如果我们能做到，任何人都能。

Now, that was all light and fuzzy and feels pretty happy.

这些都是轻描淡写， 看起来让人挺开心。

Skeptics in the audience, you're here.

但观众中也有怀疑论者，

That would be me, if I were here.

如果我在观众席，我也会心存疑虑。

Skeptics are thinking,

怀疑论者会想，

“哇，食品系统有什么要改的吗？”

"Wow, what do we need to change about our food system?"

Farmers are great.

农民很棒啊。

We have unlimited food, and it's real cheap, too,

我们的食物不限量， 还很便宜，

isn't that great?

不是很棒吗？

Well, unfortunately,

遗憾的是，

in the '80s and the '90s in this country, we went down a path of policy

美国在 80 和 90 年代， 推出了一系列政策，

简单说就是“要么扩大规模， 要么退出市场”。

that could be described as "get big or get out."

And what "get big or get out" means is you maximize production

它的意思是，要把产量最大化，

while minimizing costs.

同时把成本降到最低。

On its face value, that sounds pretty simple.

表面上看，好像挺简单。

However, that shift turned our farmers from a venerated class

然而，这个变化是把 我们所尊敬的农民阶级，

and a valued class in our society

有社会价值的农民阶级，

into a cost to be minimized.

变成了需要削减的成本。

That shift made it so that my great-grandfather,

这种转变的后果是，

who supported the family with six cows,

以前，我曾祖父用 6 头牛 就能养活一家人，

that same dairy,

而现在，同样的奶牛场，

trying to support their family, has to be 600 cows today.

需要 600 头牛 才能养活一家人。

Six-thousand-cow dairies are not unheard of.

需要 6000 头牛的，也不是没听过。

What happens when there's this one dairy farm

一个县区原本有数百家奶牛场，

in an entire county,

如果现在只剩一家，

where there used to be hundreds?

会怎样呢？

The same could be said with corn or beans or field crops.

玉米、大豆等大田作物 也是一样的状况。

What happens when it takes 10,000 acres for one person to support themselves?

如果一个人以前种 40 英亩地就能 养活自己，而现在要种一万英亩，

When it used to only take 40.

又会发生什么？

We know what happens, we read about it in the news.

我们知道发生了什么， 新闻上能看到，

Broadly determined, rural decline,

可以概括成农村衰落，

but schools close, schools consolidate,

学校关闭或合并，

邮局关闭，杂货店关门。

post offices close, grocery stores close.

People leave,

人们离开家乡，

the community suffers and goes away.

社区苦不堪言，最终消失。

I believe all of us in this audience with ties to rural Minnesota

我相信在座各位，只要 与本州农村有点关系的，

都很清楚这个状况。

know this story well.

This is not a problem that we can solve with farmers markets and good intentions.

本地农贸市场和良好的意愿 是解决不了这个问题的。

我们必须做更多事。

We have to do more for our farmers.

Policy got us into this mess,

政策让我们陷入今天的困难，

and policy can get us out.

政策也可以让我们脱身。

American farmers are only getting older, fewer and poorer,

美国的农民只会 更老、更少、更穷，

yet they are crucial to our state.

然而他们对国家至关重要。

They're the vibrancy in our rural communities.

他们是农村的活力，

They're the drivers of economic growth and stability,

是经济增长和稳定的驱动力，

and they are our best protectors of our shared resources

是我们共享的自然资源——

of land, water and air.

土地、水和空气的 最佳保护伞。

So we have to do better for them.

所以我们必须更多的帮助农民。

So join me, would you?

跟我一起，好吗？

Let's fight for our farmers.

让我们为农民抗争。

You can see it,

你们已经看到了，

we're already doing it in Minnesota, having great success.

我们在明尼苏达州 取得了巨大成功。

And together, we can do even more.

众人拾柴火焰高，

And we must.

而且我们必须这么做。

So we were voting with our fork before,

我们一直在支持本地农产品，

and we want to keep doing that.

我们还要继续这样做。

But if I could have one idea for you to go home with today,

但如果要我提供一个新的想法， 希望你们记住，那就是

it's vote with your vote.

用你的投票权去投票。

And so to that end,

最后，

我数到三，请所有人一起说出来。

on the count of three, I'd like all of us to say it together.

Are you ready?

准备好了吗？

OK, one,

来，一、

two,

二、

three.

三。

Audience: Vote with your vote.

观众：用投票权投票。

Very nice, thank you.

真好，谢谢你们。

I think you got it.

我想大家都明白了。

(Applause)

（掌声）