Just over an hour ago, TEDx Manhattan wrapped its 2nd annual Changing the Way We Eat. Glynwood Institute and TEDx Manhattan organizing team - led by media and conference design genius Diane Hatz - pulled together a superlative affair surpassing the already high expectations brought by last year's event.
Today's TEDx took place in the Times Center - adjacent the beautiful New York Times Building. An elegant inviting space with plenty of room to move around and mingle and the food (of course) was divine.
ETHEL once again stunned us with beautiful palate-cleansing interludes. This Examiner was most moved by the composition by Mark Stewart (Paul Simon's musical director) who penned a piece called To Whom It May Concern - about saying grace at the dinner table in his half Christian/half atheist home.
On to the Talks. There were three chapters: Issues, Impact and Innovation. So so many riveting Talkers today, but I'll just call out a few that moved me most:
- Wenonah Hauter from Food & Water Watch was the first Talker to really get fired up. She unpacked some of the nuts and bolts (there are many) of the Big Meat industry - from the vertically integrated lead corporations like Tyson and Brazilian-owned JBS-Pilgrim's Pride to the economic injustices faced by producers to these behemoths
- Patty Cantrell from Regional Food Solutions shot us through the heart with her story of growing up on a farm in Missouri and how she came to connect with the land. (It reminded me of last year's Talker Cheryl Rogowski.) Patty has "been singing the gospel of local economies for over 20 years." About her community and sense of belonging, she reflected: "If I died, these people would know about it. And they would care."
- Urvashi Rangan from Consumer Reports did us all a favor and railed on the utter lack of specificity - and hence, uselessness - of labels such as natural, fresh, and free range. She punctuated her detailed analysis with spits of outrage like "What the eff?!?!"
- Fred Kirschmann talked beautifully about the power of soil
- Mitchell Davis... about the power of taste
- Wayne Pacelle... about the power of farm animal awareness
- But no one could touch Stephen Ritz of Green Bronx Machine who SEVERELY inspired us. "I'm not a farmer, I'm a teacher!" he exclaimed repeatedly while eating up the stage - and all of our hearts.
I received Tweets and texts from friends at Viewing Parties that everyone was in tears. Our blood raced listening to this one man's incredible tale of uplifting a South Bronx sixth grade classroom through hands-on Edible Wall creations and applications. (I direct an action tank. This man is an action tank.)
My favorite line of the day came from Ritz, who talked extremely fast and his slides moved faster - so I look forward to having the ability to rewind... Standing beside his demo Edible Wall, he exclaimed (which is the only way he did anything):
"C'mon, let's get up and eat! My kids play cow all the time."
As I remarked to Farm Sanctuary President Gene Baur later, you had to lack a pulse not to surge to your feet as Ritz wrapped his Talk. In fact, during his allotted time, he kept imploring us to pipe down so he could get though his material before the bell.
This Talk will be a must-watch for all food advocates, community developers, education pioneers, and people with pulses.
The most important thing about TEDx Manhattan 2012 was that it was all about action.
Every single speaker gave us a nugget Call to Action - something we could each do - as consumers, advocates, parents and neighbors - to improve our food reality.
Each offered a bite-sized piece to chew on and digest - leading us from Overwhelm, Despair, and Anger to Activation - before surrendering the mic.
Many referenced entrepreneurship, innovation, creativity, opportunity, and the triple bottom line.
It was a soul-shifting day. If I could give TEDx Manhattan more than five stars, I surely would.
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