Kid Explains What's Wrong With Our Food System In 5 Minutes

Birke Baehr was just 11 years old when he was given the opportunity to speak for five minutes during a TedxNextGenerationAsheville presentation.

In this short span of stage time, Birke identifies some of the key issues troubling the American food system: the rampant advertising of junk food to children, the proliferation of genetically-modified foods, and the disregard for animal welfare, to name a few.

It seems to me like corporations are always trying to get kids like me to get their parents to buy stuff that really isn't good for us or the planet. Little kids especially are attracted by colorful packaging and plastic toys. I must admit, I used to be one of them. I also used to think that all of our food came from these happy little farms where pigs rolled in mud and cows grazed on grass all day."

Then, after some research, Birke says he "discovered the dark side of the industrialized food system."

Without giving away the full video, Birke succinctly follows the connections between so many of the issues plaguing American attitudes and practices toward food. Then, he provides actionable measures to start fixing some of these problems.

Watch below:

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Karen Lo is an associate editor at The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @appleplexy.