0:00:12.861,0:00:15.898
I'm Ellen, and I'm totally obsessed[br]with food.

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But I didn't start out obsessed with food.

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I started out obsessed[br]with global security policy

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because I lived in New York during 9/11,[br]and it was obviously very relevant.

0:00:23.776,0:00:25.831
And I got from global security policy[br]to food

0:00:25.831,0:00:28.534
because I realized when I'm hungry,[br]I'm really pissed off,

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and I'm assuming[br]that the rest of the world is too.

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Especially if you[br]and your kids are hungry,

0:00:32.823,0:00:35.900
your neighbor's kids are hungry,[br]your whole neighborhood is hungry,

0:00:35.900,0:00:36.850
you're pretty angry.

0:00:36.850,0:00:39.150
Actually, lo and behold,[br]it looks pretty much like

0:00:39.150,0:00:40.940
the areas of the world that are hungry

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are also the areas of the world[br]that are pretty insecure.

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So I took a job at the[br]United Nations World Food Programme

0:00:46.260,0:00:48.500
as a way to try to address[br]these security issues

0:00:48.500,0:00:49.860
through food security issues.

0:00:49.860,0:00:51.360
While I was there, I came across

0:00:51.360,0:00:53.810
what I think is the most brilliant[br]of their programs.

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It's called School Feeding,[br]and it's a really simple idea

0:00:56.450,0:00:59.350
to sort of get in the middle[br]of the cycle of poverty and hunger

0:00:59.350,0:01:02.356
that continues for a lot of people[br]around the world, and stop it.

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By giving kids a free school meal,[br]it gets them into school,

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which is obviously education,[br]the first step out of poverty,

0:01:07.930,0:01:11.360
but it also gives them the micronutrients[br]and the macronutrients they need

0:01:11.360,0:01:13.530
to really develop[br]both mentally and physically.

0:01:13.530,0:01:16.380
While I was working at the U.N.,[br]I met this girl, Lauren Bush.

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She had this really awesome idea

0:01:17.890,0:01:19.700
to sell the bag called the "Feed Bag" -

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which is really beautifully ironic[br]because you can strap on the Feed Bag.

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But each bag we'd sell would provide

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a year's worth of school meals[br]for one kid.

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It's so simple, and we thought, okay,

0:01:29.220,0:01:31.000
it costs between 20 and 50 bucks

0:01:31.000,0:01:32.788
to provide school feeding for a year.

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We could sell these bags[br]and raise a ton of money

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and a ton of awareness[br]for the World Food Programme.

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But of course, at the U.N.,[br]sometimes things move slowly,

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and they basically said no.

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We thought it was a great idea[br]that would raise a lot of money.

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So we said screw it,[br]we'll just start our own company,

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which we did three years ago.

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So that was my first dream,[br]to start this company called FEED,

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and here's a screenshot of our website.

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We did this bag for Haiti, and launched it[br]just a month after the earthquake

0:01:56.506,0:01:58.500
to provide school meals for kids in Haiti.

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FEED's doing great.[br]We've so far provided 55 million meals

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to kids around the world

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by selling now 550,000 bags,[br]a lot of bags.

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When you think about hunger,

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it's a hard thing to think about,[br]because what we think about is eating.

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I think about eating a lot,[br]and I really love it.

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And the thing that's a little strange[br]about international hunger

0:02:18.510,0:02:20.390
and talking about international issues

0:02:20.390,0:02:23.900
is that most people kind of want to know:[br]"What are you doing in America?"

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"What are you doing for America's kids?"

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I've been thinking a lot about that,

0:02:28.058,0:02:30.032
and about food systems in our own country.

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Especially being on New York,[br]you get access to awesome food,

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but when you travel, especially airports,[br]the food is crap.

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So, thinking about food issues,

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there's definitely hunger in America:

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49 million people[br]and almost 16.7 million children.

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That's pretty dramatic[br]for our own country.

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Hunger definitely means something[br]a little bit different in America

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than it does internationally,

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but it's incredibly important[br]to address it in our own country.

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But obviously the bigger problem[br]that we all know about

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from the TED Prize winner, Jamie Oliver,

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to watching FoodInc,[br]reading Michael Pollan,

0:02:58.558,0:03:00.261
is obesity, and it's dramatic.

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The other thing that's dramatic[br]is that both hunger and obesity

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have really risen in the last 30 years.

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And I started to think about[br]this whole 30 year thing,

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and you'll see it running as a theme[br]through my talk.

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Unfortunately, obesity's not only[br]an American problem.

0:03:13.517,0:03:15.789
It's actually been spreading[br]all around the world

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and mainly through our kind[br]of food systems that we're exporting.

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The numbers are pretty crazy.

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There's a billion people obese[br]or overweight

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and a billion people hungry.

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So those seem like[br]two bifurcated problems,

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but I kind of started to think about,[br]you know, what is obesity and hunger?

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What are both those things about?

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Well, they're both about food.

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And when you think about food,

0:03:35.037,0:03:37.252
the underpinning of food in both cases

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is potentially problematic agriculture.

0:03:39.435,0:03:42.107
And agriculture is where food comes from.

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Well, agriculture in America's[br]very interesting.

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It's very consolidated,

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and the foods that are produced[br]lead to the foods that we eat.

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The foods that are produced are,[br]more or less, corn, soy and wheat.

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And as you can see,[br]that's three-quarters of the food

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that we're eating for the most part:[br]processed foods and fast foods.

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Unfortunately, in our agricultural system,

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we haven't done a good job[br]in the last three decades

0:04:02.386,0:04:04.825
of exporting those technologies[br]around the world.

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So African agriculture, which is the place[br]of most hunger in the world,

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has actually fallen precipitously

0:04:10.060,0:04:11.487
as hunger has risen.

0:04:11.487,0:04:13.585
So somehow we're not making the connect

0:04:13.585,0:04:15.907
between exporting[br]a good agricultural system

0:04:15.907,0:04:18.373
that will help feed people[br]all around the world.

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We're trying to understand[br]who is farming them.

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That's what I was wondering.

0:04:23.536,0:04:26.185
So I went and stood[br]on a big grain bin in the Midwest,

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and that really didn't help me[br]understand farming,

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but I think it's a really cool picture.

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And you know, the reality is

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that between farmers in America,

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who actually, quite frankly,[br]when I spend time in the Midwest,

0:04:37.320,0:04:39.079
are pretty large in general.

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And their farms are also large.

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But farmers in the rest of the world

0:04:42.924,0:04:45.840
are actually quite skinny,[br]and that's because they're starving.

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Most hungry people in the world[br]are subsistence farmers.

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And most of those people are women -

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which is a totally other topic[br]that I won't get on right now,

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but I'd love to do the feminist thing[br]at some point.

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I think it's really interesting

0:04:58.978,0:05:01.254
to look at agriculture[br]from these two sides.

0:05:01.254,0:05:03.423
There's this large, consolidated farming

0:05:03.423,0:05:05.307
that's led to what we eat in America,

0:05:05.307,0:05:07.227
and it's really been since around 1980,

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after the oil crisis,

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when, you know, mass consolidation,

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mass exodus of small farmers[br]in this country.

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And then in the same time period,

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you know, we've kind of left Africa's[br]farmers to do their own thing.

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Unfortunately, what is farmed[br]ends up as what we eat.

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And in America, a lot of what we eat

0:05:23.538,0:05:26.884
has led to obesity[br]and has led to a real change

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in sort of what our diet is[br]in the last 30 years.

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You can't see the thing in red,[br]but it's crazy.

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A fifth of kids under two drinks soda.

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Hello. You don't put soda in bottles.

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But people do because it's so cheap,

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and so our whole food system[br]in the last 30 years

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has really shifted.

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I think, you know,[br]it's not just in our own country,

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but really we're exporting[br]this system around the world,

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and when you look at the data[br]of least developed countries -

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especially in cities,[br]which are growing really rapidly -

0:05:55.640,0:05:58.103
people are eating[br]American processed foods.

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And in one generation,

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they're going from hunger,

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and all of the detrimental[br]health effects of hunger,

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to obesity and things like diabetes

0:06:05.367,0:06:07.383
and heart disease in one generation.

0:06:07.383,0:06:10.478
So, that's an interesting way[br]to connect hunger and obesity.

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The problematic food system

0:06:14.440,0:06:16.601
is affecting both hunger and obesity.

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Not to beat a dead horse,

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but this is a global food system

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where there's a billion people hungry[br]and a billion people obese.

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I think that's the only way to look at it.

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And instead of taking these two things

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as bifurcated problems[br]that are very separate,

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it's really important to look at them[br]as one system.

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We get a lot of our food[br]from all around the world,

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and people from all around the world[br]are importing our food system,

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so it's incredibly relevant[br]to start a new way of looking at it.

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The thing is, I've learned -

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and the technology people that are here,[br]which I'm totally not one of them -

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but apparently, it really takes 30 years

0:06:48.041,0:06:50.664
for a lot of technologies[br]to become really endemic to us,

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like the mouse[br]and the Internet and Windows.

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You know, there's 30-year cycles.

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Actually, Sam Lessin,[br]who spoke earlier,

0:06:56.628,0:06:59.004
has this thing called Y+30,[br]about 30 year change.

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I think 2010[br]can be a really interesting year

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because it is the end[br]of the 30-year cycle,

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and it's the birthday[br]of the global food system.

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So that's the first birthday[br]I want to talk about.

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You know, I think if we really think

0:07:09.723,0:07:11.520
that this is something that's happened

0:07:11.520,0:07:13.517
in the last 30 years,[br]there's hope in that.

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It's the thirtieth anniversary[br]of GMO crops

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and the Big Gulp, Chicken McNuggets,[br]high fructose corn syrup,

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the farm crisis in America

0:07:20.903,0:07:24.315
and the change in how we've addressed[br]agriculture internationally.

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So there's a lot of reasons to take[br]this 30-year time period

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as sort of the creation[br]of this new food system.

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I'm not the only one who's obsessed[br]with this whole 30-year thing.

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The icons like Michael Pollan

0:07:36.755,0:07:38.798
and Jamie Oliver in his TED Prize wish

0:07:38.798,0:07:41.854
both addressed this last[br]three-decade time period

0:07:41.854,0:07:44.534
as incredibly relevant[br]for food system change.

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Well, I really care about 1980

0:07:46.537,0:07:49.054
because it's also the thirtieth[br]anniversary of me this year.

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In 15 days I'm turning 30, everyone.

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I'm never going to be able[br]to lie about my age

0:07:55.493,0:07:57.342
because I'm saying it publicly.

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And so in my lifetime,

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a lot of what's happened in the world -

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and being a person obsessed with food -

0:08:03.898,0:08:05.660
a lot of this has really changed.

0:08:05.660,0:08:08.006
So my second dream is that I think

0:08:08.006,0:08:10.149
we can look to the next 30 years

0:08:10.149,0:08:12.575
as a time to change the food system again.

0:08:12.575,0:08:14.479
And we know what's happened in the past,

0:08:14.479,0:08:16.664
so if we start now,[br]and we look at technologies

0:08:16.664,0:08:18.901
and improvements[br]to the food system long term,

0:08:18.901,0:08:20.991
we might be able to recreate[br]the food system

0:08:20.991,0:08:23.289
so when I give my next talk[br]and I'm 60 years old,

0:08:23.289,0:08:25.344
I'll be able to say[br]that it's been a success.

0:08:25.344,0:08:27.932
So I'm announcing today[br]the start of a new organization,

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or a new fund within the FEED Foundation,[br]called the 30 Project.

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And the 30 Project is really focused

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on these long-term ideas

0:08:34.272,0:08:35.611
for food system change.

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And I think by aligning international[br]advocates that are addressing hunger

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and domestic advocates[br]that are addressing obesity,

0:08:41.766,0:08:44.248
we might actually look[br]for long-term solutions

0:08:44.248,0:08:47.206
that will make the food system[br]better for everyone.

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We all tend to think that these systems[br]are quite different,

0:08:50.948,0:08:53.721
and people argue whether[br]or not organic can feed the world,

0:08:53.721,0:08:55.227
but if we take a 30-year view,

0:08:55.227,0:08:57.264
there's more hope in collaborative ideas.

0:08:57.264,0:09:00.248
So I'm hoping that by connecting[br]really disparate organizations

0:09:00.248,0:09:02.163
like the ONE campaign and Slow Food,

0:09:02.163,0:09:04.607
which don't seem right now[br]to have much in common,

0:09:04.607,0:09:07.646
we can talk about holistic,[br]long-term, systemic solutions

0:09:07.646,0:09:09.804
that will improve food for everyone.

0:09:09.804,0:09:11.564
Some ideas I've had is like, look,

0:09:11.564,0:09:14.853
the reality is - kids in the South Bronx[br]need apples and carrots

0:09:14.853,0:09:16.310
and so do kids in Botswana.

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And how are we going to get those kids[br]those nutritious foods?

0:09:19.227,0:09:21.352
Another thing that's become[br]incredibly global

0:09:21.352,0:09:22.894
is production of meat and fish.

0:09:22.894,0:09:25.305
Understanding how to produce protein

0:09:25.305,0:09:28.583
in a way that's healthy[br]for the environment and healthy for people

0:09:28.583,0:09:31.751
will be incredibly important[br]to address things like climate change

0:09:31.751,0:09:34.475
and how we use petrochemical fertilizers.

0:09:34.475,0:09:36.905
And you know,[br]these are really relevant topics

0:09:36.905,0:09:38.371
that are long term

0:09:38.371,0:09:41.594
and important for both people in Africa[br]who are small farmers

0:09:41.594,0:09:44.503
and people in America[br]who are farmers and eaters.

0:09:44.503,0:09:48.148
And I also think that thinking about[br]processed foods in a new way,

0:09:48.148,0:09:50.508
where we actually price[br]the negative externalities

0:09:50.508,0:09:53.201
like petrochemicals[br]and like fertilizer runoff

0:09:53.201,0:09:55.300
into the price of a bag of chips.

0:09:55.300,0:09:57.190
Well, if that bag of chips then becomes

0:09:57.190,0:09:59.557
inherently more expensive than an apple,

0:09:59.557,0:10:01.799
then maybe it's time for a different sense

0:10:01.799,0:10:03.957
of personal responsibility in food choice

0:10:03.957,0:10:06.046
because the choices are actually choices

0:10:06.046,0:10:10.224
instead of three-quarters of the products[br]being made just from corn, soy and wheat.

0:10:10.236,0:10:13.340
Starting today - the website did go up[br]at 9 o'clock this morning -

0:10:13.340,0:10:15.174
the 30project.org is launched,

0:10:15.174,0:10:18.285
and I've gathered a coalition[br]of a few organizations to start.

0:10:18.285,0:10:20.754
And it'll be growing[br]over the next few months.

0:10:20.754,0:10:23.701
But I really hope that you will all think[br]of ways that you can

0:10:23.701,0:10:25.797
look long term[br]at things like the food system

0:10:25.797,0:10:27.171
and make change.

0:10:27.171,0:10:29.306
(Applause)