[鼓掌]
[Clapping]
六年前
Six years ago,
我意识到这是个大问题
I learned there was a big problem.
我觉得理应去尝试解决它
And I felt compelled to try and solve it.
这就是美国的
The problem-
饥饿问题
Hunger in America.
许多观众可能经常听说由于食物不安全引发的饥饿问题
Many you and this audience have probably hear about hunger of food insecurity forever.
这是一大健康问题
It’s a big health issue.
这不只是发生在贫民区
It’s not just our inner cities.
有百分之十五的人
15% of the population.
——四千九百万美国人在面临这个问题
That’s 49 millon Americans.
这是一个将会影响我们所有人的
This is a health care cost anomy,
健康费用失范的问题
which is going to hit all of us.
更为讽刺的是
On the top of this travesty,
我们种植的食物中
thirty to forty percent
有百分之三十到四十被浪费
of all the food we grow is wasted.
优质的食物
Perfectly good food is left to rot
烂在田里
in fields.
有时 仅仅是因为劳工费
often, just because of the Labor,
收集及分配食物过程是要花钱的
it cost to collect and distribute it.
有时食物被丢弃
Sometimes, it’s tossed,
因为已接近它的
because it’s reached its sell-by
保质期或最佳赏味期
or best-by code date.
这不是食物浪费
This isn’t food waste.
在美国没有人想为食物浪费加码
No one in America wants a second helping of food waste.
这是被浪费的食物
This is wasted food.
直到我离开乔氏超市
Now I didn’t know about the true scale of this problem until I left Trader Joe’s
在哈佛大学建立了一个团体
and did a fellowship
才明白这个问题的严重程度
at Harvard.
在这个团体里
In this fellowship,
他们不会说
they don’t say
你要了解什么
what are you gonna learn?
他们问
They ask,
你要怎么做
what are you going to do about it.
所以我说好的 道格
So I said okay, doug,
你将要怎么做呢
what are you going to do about it?
所以我用各种方案进行比较
So I wrestled with various options,
于是亮点浮出水面
and then the light bulb went on.
我将用浪费食物问题
I’ll use the wasted food problem
去解决饥饿问题
to solve the hunger problem.
我将用一个问题
I’ll use one problem
去解决另一个
to solve another.
根据我在乔式超市的三十多年经验
With three decades of experience at Trader Joe’s,
我更了解哪里有多余的食物
I pretty much knew where the extra food was
而且我想我知道如何得到它
and I thought I knew how to get it.
好
Well,
我仍然觉得这是个难以解决的问题
I still had a steep learning curve ahead of me.
结果是
Turns out,
这个问题
the problem
切实存在于食物沙漠
really is in food desert,
并非是买不到
it isn’t about availability,
而是买不起
it’s affordability.
你可以在每个角落开乔氏超市或者沃尔玛超市
You could put a Trader Joe’s or Walmart on every corner,
而食物不安全仍是吃不起健康食物
and food insecurity could still not afford to eat,
或是只买他们能吃的起的食物
or to buy what they should be eating.
为什么
Why?
因为美国的食物体系是
Because America’s food system is designed
由农业法案所制定的
from the farm bill on up
垃圾食品廉价
to make calories cheap
有营养的食物昂贵
and nutrition expensive.
这就是为什么
That’s why
目前美国挨饿的
the face of hunger in America today
都是胖子
is an obese person.
食品不安全的美国人
Food insecure Americans are
不得不吃那些
forced to fill up on food that’s loaded
充斥糖 脂肪
with sugar, fat
钠
sodium
基本没有什么营养的食物填饱肚子
little nutrition
因此我们要的结果并不是一个饱饱的胃
Hence the answer isn’t a full stomach,
而是健康的一餐
it’s a healthy meal.
所以接着我意识到
So my next learning
这是关于钱的问题
was about money.
非营利机构倾向于将75%的管理时间花在筹款上
Nonprofits tend to spend 75 percent of management’s time in fund raising.
他们做的很棒
They do great work.
这是他们的生存之道
It’s the air they breathe.
但是
But…
捐资者开始疲倦了
funder fatigue sets in,
资金耗尽了
funding dries up.
所以我想
So i wondered
如果不年复一年地寻找那些
instead of seeking donors to continually
持续投资我们的项目
fund our mission.
的投资人
Year after year,
那是否可能成立一个资金
would be pass(x) possible to have a mission
自给自足的项目呢
That could fund itself?
好
Well,
我们做一些有趣的事
we did something interesting,
我们真正的进入了食品不安全的地区
we actually went into a food insecure neighborhood,
然后询问他们想要什么
and ask the people what they wanted.
他们说
And they said,
我们不想要宣传册子
we don’t want handouts,
我们想要买可口的
we want to buy tasty
有营养 能买得起的食物
nutritious food we can afford.
我们不想寻求慈善机构
We’re not looking for charity,
我们目前都在买食物
we’re buying food now,
我们能自食其力
we want to keep buying food.
不要让你的商店专为穷人特供
Don’t make your store needs-based,
而每个人都能在那买东西
everybody should be able to shop there.
我们在商店购物时也不想到因为穷而感到耻辱
We don’t want to feel stigmatized by shopping in a store that’s just for poor people.
另一个亮点
Another light bulb,
结果是人们甚至更迫切于维护自己的尊严
turns out people are even hungrier to keep their dignity
胜过对营养的追求
than for nutrition.
这意味着
Which means
我们可以用尊严的问题
we can use the dignity problem
去帮助解决资金的问题
to help solve the funding problem.
我们有的是顾客
We’d have customers
不是被慈善机构接济的人
not charity recipients.
顾客有尊严
Customers have dignity,
人们钱包鼓起来了
people who will the power of the purse
就觉得有了力量
feel empowered.
我们的商店应该
Our stores would have to
每天获得
earn the patronage
来自顾客的赞助
of a customer everyday.
然后如果我们得到许多免费的食物
And, if we could get much of our food for free,
我们能提供很低的价格
we’d be able to have incredibly low prices,
也能够赚足够的钱
and still make enough money.
我们期待着投资我们的经营
We hoped to fund our operation.
如果我们在经济上
If we could be economically
足以支撑下来 那么我们就能解决问题
sustainable, we’d be scalable.
六个月前在波士顿 我们开展了日常讨论
Six months ago, we open daily table in Boston,
在群体中的反响
the community’s response
都是绝对积极的
has been overwhelmingly positive.
在头一百天就有七千的人参与进来
Seven thousand people joined in the first 100 days.
我们每天向数百人提供服务
We serve hundreds of customers everyday.
我们的价格
Our prices are about one third
是你在别的商店买相同食物的三分之一
of what you’d find for the same food and other grocers.
我们了解到我们的竞争方向
We’ve learned that our competition
是快餐环节
is really fast food joints.
为什么
Why?
因为当母亲工作后回家
Because mom when she gets home from work
需要做晚餐
needs to have dinner in her hand.
她没有时间
She has no time.
这就是我们抢先提供快餐的原因
That’s why we offer grab and go ready-to-eat meals,
并且它的销量占我们所有商品总销量的百分之五十以上
and that’s been over fifty percent of our sales.
如今
Today,
如果你问我 我们该如何解决在美国的发生饥饿
if you ask me how we can solve the hunger problem
问题
in America,
我认为没有单独的一个途径
I’d say no one approach
能解决所有问题
is the total answer.
这是一个系统的
This is a systemic,
全国性的问题
nationwide problem.
单打独斗不能解决问题
Siloing isn’t going to work.
我们需要通力合作解决问题
Solving it will take all of us working together,
政府
government,
工业机构
industry,
非盈利机构和顾客
nonprofits and customers.
但是现在
But now,
我比以前更加有自信
I’m more confident than ever.
这个问题在美国能被解决且
that this problem can and will be solved in America.
较快地被解决
Realitively soon.
然后我们就能开始解决
And then we can all start figuring out
如何养活这个饥饿星球上其余的人
how to feed the rest this hungry planet.
谢谢
Thank you.
[鼓掌]
[Clapping]