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

譯者: Pui-Ching Siu 審譯者: Helen Chang

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

如果你要公開演講， 通常大家會教你怎麼做？

It's to imagine that your audience is naked.

想像你的觀眾沒穿衣服，對吧？

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Well, I'm doing a different trick tonight,

今天晚上我要用另一個技巧，

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

我要想像的是， 如果沒有農民會怎麼樣？

and well, it's not so much different.

然而，那沒有大太的差別。

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

[沒有農夫，你沒飯吃、 沒衣服穿、沒酒喝]

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And our farmers do so much more for us

農民為我們做了很多，

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

不只是讓我們有吃有穿， 有好東西可以喝。

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

農民還是我們所有社區裡 很重要的一部分，

particularly our rural communities.

特別是我們的鄉村社區。

And more than that,

不僅如此，

they're a strong driver of resilient economics.

他們也是促使彈性經濟的強力推動力。

Think about it this way:

用這種方式想想：

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

酒製造商向我購買 明尼蘇達本地種植的啤酒花，

90 percent of that dollar stays in our state,

90% 的錢會留在我們這一州，

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

相反，如果從其他地方購買， 留在明尼蘇達的只有 10% 。

What that means is a lot.

這背後的意義很重要。

That 90 percent means local jobs.

那 90% 代表者當地的工作。

It means tax revenue for better schools and roads.

那意味著更好的學校 和道路所需要的稅收。

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

那意味著能支持合作商、技師、

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

讓農田生意興隆需要的 所有支援人員。

And they're our best stewards of the land.

他們是這塊地最好的管理者。

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

我想，這句話說明了， 在管理自然資源方面，

in stewarding our shared natural resources.

家庭農民為我們的貢獻。

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

「土地是一個社區， 是生態學的基本觀念，

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

但應該把那片土地當作 倫理的延伸來愛惜、尊重。」

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

他們確實為我們帶來許多好處。

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

我們的家庭農民很棒，大家都同意。

However,

然而，

the trends in agriculture today are dire.

現今的農業發展趨勢很可怕。

The average age of a farmer in America,

根據最新的農業普查資料，

according to the latest agricultural census --

美國農民的平均年齡是——

58.3.

58.3 歲。

Of all the farmers,

所有的農民中，

33 percent are 65 plus.

33% 超過 65 歲。

That's a little caricature of my grandpa.

這是我祖父的漫畫人像。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

He's still farming,

他仍然在務農，

and he's much older than 65.

且他遠超過 65 歲。

But to put that in perspective,

相比之下，

another important public service job, teaching,

另一項重要的大眾 服務工作：教師，

average age of teachers is 42.

老師的平均年齡是 42 歲。

Our farmers are pretty old in this country.

在我們的國家中，農民相當老。

And unfortunately,

不幸的是，

when they retire, if they retire,

當他們退休，如果他們退休的話，

we're not really replacing them.

我們無法找人替補他們。

Of all the farmers that we added in this country

在 2008 年到 2012 年間，

between 2008 and 2012,

我們國內新增加的農民中，

across the entire United States --

包括美國各地——

see if you can catch this difference --

各位是否能聽出差異——

we added 2,000 under the age of 30.

我們增加了 2000 位 年齡不到 30 歲的農民。

I'm one of those.

我是其中之一。

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

待會我會留下來跟大家合影和簽名。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

But, you know, our farmers are getting older

但是，我們的農民越來越老，

and we're not replacing them --

卻沒有辦法補充空位——

what's going on here?

這是怎麼回事？

What are we going to do?

我們該怎麼辦？

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

我想，大家不選擇務農是有理由的，

and that's prices.

那理由就是價格。

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

我們接下來要看幾張投影片。

牛奶：這是在美國 一加侖牛奶的平均零售價。

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

4.49 美金。

Four dollars forty-nine cents.

How much do you think the farmer gets?

各位認為農民能賺到多少錢？

1.32 美金。

Dollar thirty-two.

We'll try again with bread.

我們再來看看麵包。

在美國，麵包的平均 零售價是 3.49 美金。

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

Farmer gets ...

農民能得到……

Twelve cents.

0.12 美金。

Audience: Oh!

觀眾：哇！

And so how are we supposed to have strong local farms

這種情況下，我們怎麼可能

in this scenario?

會有很強的本地農場？

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

如果本地沒有農民了，我們該怎麼辦？

And this isn't just a farmer problem,

這不只是農民的問題，

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

這不是我們幾個農民來解決的問題。

This is an all-of-us problem.

大家要一起處理。

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

是鄉村、城市、全州、全國的問題。

So what do we do about it?

我們該怎麼做？

I'll tell you that.

我等下會告訴各位。

But first, a story.

但是，我先說一個故事。

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

我們都很熟悉綠色運動，

started in the '60s, planting trees.

60 年代開始的植樹運動。

And now we've come such a long way.

現在我們已經走了很長的一段路。

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

我們的日常生活中都看得到綠化。

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

也是財富五百強企業的日常。

It's the subject of international treaties,

同時也是國際條約的主題、

the subject of presidential debates.

和總統競選辯論的主題。

You and I, we switch our light bulbs,

你我都曾更換燈泡，

we use reusable bags.

我們重用袋子。

We participate in the green movement each and every day.

我們每天都在參與綠色運動。

Yet ...

但是……

and this is how we get to the idea --

接著就要談到這個想法——

the food movement,

食物運動，

relatively younger, but also somewhat familiar, I imagine.

這個運動相對比較新， 但我想大家也熟悉。

You go to the grocery store,

當你到雜貨店時，

you see a sign that says "Buy local,"

會看到牌子上寫「買本地貨」。

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

你會去農民市集，你會去合作社，

you read books by prominent authors.

你會閱讀著名作者寫的書。

The food movement to date

至今的食物運動

could be summarized as voting with your fork.

可以總結為「拿著叉子來投票」。

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

這個概念是：你從皮夾中 拿出 1 美金——

how you spend that dollar affects the food system.

你怎麼花這 1 美金 將會影響到食物系統。

It supports farmers close to home.

它能夠支持家鄉的農民。

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

那很好、很棒， 但我們會達成什麼？

How do we get to our renewable-energy moment

我們要如何發展再生能源，

like the green movement did?

就像綠色運動那樣？

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

我想，這是我們需要做的。

Just voting with our fork is not solving the issues

光是拿著叉子來投票不能解決

that our farmers are facing.

農民面臨的這些議題。

And so we need to do more than that.

我們需要做更多。

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

我認為，我們應該要 從拿著叉子來投票

to voting with our vote.

改成拿著我們的選票來投票。

We need to take our dollars

我們需要把自己的錢

and continue to spend them locally.

繼續花在本地產品上。

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

我們也需要為了農民去投票站投票。

This is bigger than just buying local strawberries

這比每年到自行採摘農場 買當地草莓更有用。

once a year at a pick-your-own.

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

這是需要大家 同心協力的一年份努力，

to make the change we need.

才能造成我們需要的改變。

Changes like fair pricing for farmers.

比如為農民爭取公平定價的改變。

That's quotas, supply management,

那就是配額、供應管理、

guaranteed prices.

保障價格。

Changes like fair and open trade.

比如公平、開放貿易的改變。

That means ending trade wars.

那代表著要終止貿易戰爭。

And yeah, of course it means voting.

當然，那也表示要去投票。

Now we all knew that one already, though.

不過我們都已經知道這一點了。

For example, it's working.

比如說，那是有用的。

Hey, who's that?

嘿，那是誰啊？ [演講者本人]

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Just this year in Minnesota,

今年在明尼蘇達州，

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

我們通過了歷史性 全球首創的稅收減免政策。

The Beginning Farmer Tax Credit.

新農民稅收減免。

It incentivizes our transition of land

它鼓勵我們

from the existing generation to the next generation.

把土地一代傳一代。

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

那是我們幾個年輕農民所做到的——

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

當然，如你所見，我們沒有錢，

We don't have political experience.

我們沒有政治經驗。

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

但是我們站出來， 讓人們聽到我們的聲音。

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

感謝大家的支持， 不管是農民還是非農民，

we got something incredible done here in this state.

我們在這個州達成了重大成就。

If we can do it, anybody can do it.

如果我們可以做到，任何人都可以做到。

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

那些都是輕描淡寫，看起來很開心。

Skeptics in the audience, you're here.

但是觀眾裡也有懷疑者。

That would be me, if I were here.

如果我在觀眾席，我也會懷疑。

Skeptics are thinking,

懷疑者在想，

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

「哇，我們需要改變食品系統嗎？」

Farmers are great.

農民很棒。

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

我們有不限量的事物， 並且十分便宜，

isn't that great?

那不好嗎？

Well, unfortunately,

不幸的是，

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

美國在 80 和 90 年代， 推出了一系列的政策。

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

那可以說是「要麼擴展，要麼退出」。

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

「要麼擴展，要麼退出」的意思是，

要把產量最大化， 同時把成本降到最低。

while minimizing costs.

On its face value, that sounds pretty simple.

表面上看起來很簡單。

However, that shift turned our farmers from a venerated class

但是這個變化把農民

從被尊敬、有社會價值的階級，

and a valued class in our society

into a cost to be minimized.

變成了需要削減的成本。

That shift made it so that my great-grandfather,

這個轉變的後果是，

以前，我的曾祖父 用 6 頭牛養活了一家。

who supported the family with six cows,

that same dairy,

現在，同樣的牛奶場，

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

需要 600 頭牛才能養活一家。

Six-thousand-cow dairies are not unheard of.

6000 頭牛的牛奶場 也不是前所未有。

What happens when there's this one dairy farm

一個縣裡本來有上百個牛奶場，

in an entire county,

where there used to be hundreds?

如果現在只剩下一家，會怎麼樣呢？

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

玉米、大豆等農作物也是同樣的情況。

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

以前一人只需要 40 英畝來養活自己，

When it used to only take 40.

而現在需要 10,000 英畝。 又會發生什麼呢？

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

我們都知道會發生什麼， 在新聞上看得見，

Broadly determined, rural decline,

概括來說：農村衰落、

but schools close, schools consolidate,

學校關閉或合併、

post offices close, grocery stores close.

郵局關閉、雜貨店關閉。

People leave,

人們離開，

the community suffers and goes away.

整個社區遭受損失、漸漸消失。

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

我相信和明尼蘇達州農村有關係的觀眾

都很清楚這個狀況。

know this story well.

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

農夫市場和好的意願 無法解決這個問題。

We have to do more for our farmers.

我們要為農民做更多。

Policy got us into this mess,

政策讓我們陷入困難，

and policy can get us out.

但它也可以讓我們脫身。

American farmers are only getting older, fewer and poorer,

美國農民變得更老、更少、更窮，

yet they are crucial to our state.

但他們對我們州非常重要。

They're the vibrancy in our rural communities.

他們是農村的活力。

They're the drivers of economic growth and stability,

他們是經濟增長和穩定的推動力。

and they are our best protectors of our shared resources

他們保護著我們的共用資源：

of land, water and air.

土地、水、空氣。

So we have to do better for them.

所以我們要為他們做得更好。

So join me, would you?

跟我一起，好嗎？

Let's fight for our farmers.

一起為我們的農民奮鬥。

You can see it,

你可以看見，

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

我們已經在明尼蘇達州 取得極大的成功。

And together, we can do even more.

在一起，我們可以做更多。

And we must.

我們必須做更多。

So we were voting with our fork before,

以前，我們拿著叉子來投票，

and we want to keep doing that.

我們必須繼續這樣做。

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

但是，我希望你們銘記於心，

it's vote with your vote.

用你的選票來投票。

And so to that end,

最後，

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

我數到三，希望大家一起說出來。

Are you ready?

準備好了嗎？

OK, one,

好，一，

two,

二，

three.

三。

Audience: Vote with your vote.

觀眾：用你的選票來投票。

Very nice, thank you.

很棒，謝謝你們。

I think you got it.

我想大家都明白了。

(Applause)

（掌聲）