That moment when an 11 year old can speak better in front of hundreds of people than you in front of your class :/

Birke Baehr, eventhough I do not share all your points of view, I think the world needs more brave and smart kids like you! You should be proud of yourself for being a change agent! You are still very young, keep an open mind and keep downloading all the information you can get, this will only make you a stronger, smarter and better equiped change agent than you already are!

This young man's dedication to healthy eating is admirable. They should show this in schools!

Pay the farmer, or pay the hospital.

You were on fire, man! You go follow Mr. Salatin around. He's the most amazing farmer on the planet and you go lead us into a better world. I grow food too. I got sick of this system around age 35. I have grown food for 5 years now. It's awesome! There is something terribly wrong with the world when even young guys like you jump up and loudly proclaim they will not deal with this madness anymore. Welcome to the club of conscious farmers. You will definitely get far with that rock solid passion of yours. I believe in you.

Such a smart kind and awesome kid! his parents should be so proud of him! good job in raising this kid!

Wow... The most I ever accomplished at age 11 is learning what 69 is.

You have said everything I have tried to tell people in 5.21' I salute you. I pray your TED talk here doesn't get taken off.

Birke, you rocked out this message like a super star! So moved by your passionate appeal for all folks to get involved with the food supply, buy organic, buy local! Great Job!

that kid is the future...we need to have more of that gen next...his parents should be proud... either pay the doctor or better pay the farmer...i would pay the farmer for that organic food...

Great job to this incredibly brave, intelligent, informed and sweet child. He knows what's up! So many 2,3,4,5, and 6 times his age should know, listen to and do something to put an end to the madness that is poisioning our food. OUR FOOD FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!

About 2 seconds in and I love this kid. I love him even more when he said he was changing his life goal from NFL player to organic farmer.

That may be very true, indeed! The source of those ideas would probably be of extraordinary intelligence and enlightenment, though. This kid is one of the healthiest I've ever seen, both in mind and body. So clear, confident and articulate! This certainly works for him, and I applaud and thank him for the fantastic deliverance of this eye-opening message.

I love this kid. He is telling it like it is, hopefully people will take him seriously because he is right on the mark!!!! Eat organic and not GMO products. So Awesome! Chef Shelley Pogue

This is what I wanted to tell all of the kids my age right now. Time to spread the word. :)

This child is a blessing! I had my children watch this and they got it!!! Thank you for sharing. Your parents must be very proud of you. Keep discovering!

Every passing day homeschooling seems more like the right choice to me.

If I ever have kids I want them to be like this kid!! Such an inspiration for this generation only concerned with partying, the gym and what they look like.

This fine young fellow gave an excellent presentation of the truth that the world needs to hear. Kids like this really make my day.

That child was awesome. I was passionate about what he was talking about, and if I had that confidence when I was 11 I would blow myself away. He is a awesome genius.

Men..., this kid almost made me cry !!

Soils managed with organic methods have shown better water-holding capacity and water infiltration rates and have produced higher yields than conventional systems under drought conditions and excessive rainfall.

WOW...Amazing kid,very smart and well informed for 11 years old. He's going to make a difference in this world.

It is refreshing to see a young person so well informed, confident, enthusiastic and engaged in his own surroundings. In todays society it is sad to say that others his age think that food is actually only sourced and grown in the supermarkets. When did it all become so complicated? Irrelevant of the rights and wrongs of both sides, I always stick with the basic principles. You plant a seed, that seed grows the food I can eat and nature provides any protection to make that food healthy and nutritional. I do not need my food to last for weeks or months or to see more of the world than me. Maybe going back to basics is what will save us in the end.

This is absolutley Awesome. It is so nice to see kids getting involved! I so hope people will pass this around. I sure am!

This kid is amazing! He did such a good job and it's so great that someone so young is aware of these problems :)

You are one smart young man and your parents deserve a huge pat on their backs for raising you to think. I am sharing this with everyone I know, especially kids. Thankyou

What a smart well informed little boy you my dear are you going to change the world we need more of you

well done. and I agree with you. but REALITY CHECK!!! I live in a city with a population of 10 million people - where exactly is my local farm, and how does it produce enough organic cereal and happy meat to create 30 million meals a day? there's a lot more we have to do than buy from farmers markets. we need to eat less. we need to stop throwing away a third of our food. we need to chew more so we get more out of every mouthful. we need to stop being so damn lazy and greedy! So though I agree with you, I have to make this comment. we need to be thinking about everything we do. drive less, recycle more, waste less, etc. AND we need to understand that we are living the life of kings compared to pretty much every other human that has ever existed! Good start Birke, but don't stop there! Keep going! ;-)

2:06 people laugh whaaat?? WONDERFUL talk Birke!

This kid is a natural public speaker, and he has crafted a persuasive speech that really isn't bad. I believe there is some room for improvement, but it's outstanding for an eleven year old! I foresee that this young mad will become a powerful public speaker.

Yes I agree that I should know more about my food, I should support small business (especially if it's friends and family), I should avoid all things I know are unhealthy for me, and of course never stop fighting for transparency in all industries. Good to know you are on board!

You're amazing, kid! Keep up the good work!

this little kid is right. scary science. the young fellow wanted to be a footballer but he has decided to do organic farming. Good decision

While browsing videos on KZfaq I always seem to return to this one by accident and love it more everytime..

Terrific video! Birke is wonderful! Great information from a powerful spokesperson!

11 years old and still wiser then most people here

Great message and I hope he DOES grow up to become the organic farmer he said he was thinking of being :]

This young man is going to hopefully be a great influence when he grows up what a knowledgeable young man his parents should be very proud

This is a great talk! One of the best Ted talk!

You must have very proud parents. Way to go, bud. :)

He sounds like Alfalfa from the little rascals

Not the length but the depth of life that matters. Nothing is more edifying than the perception of the perceived without the perceiver. Instant action, no thought, no convincing, no will power involved. Undoing is the doing.

i was so happy at first to hear this kid asking where his food was coming from...then it took a turn and he still eats animals :( he's still got so much to learn, as do so many people who think eating animals is okay just because they got to eat grass.

All biotech crops, including GE sweet corn, have gone through years of testing, studies and approval processes by the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Nutrition, Agriculture Department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Environmental Protection Agency and other labs, before being placed on the market. ~ Paul Driessen

Go young man!!! Fantastic presentation. Inspirational indeed.

Love this kid hes gunna revolutionize things he will go far

I'am a 11 year old, looking for a variety of ways of improving my speech since i'am going in front of a lot of people. Nice speech bro ;)

this kid is extremely well spoken.

I LOVE YOU KID!!! I will choose to pay the farmer and not the hospital too!

🎉❤ Great Talk !!!! Inspire the World. Much needed.

wow, to see this level of awareness in an eleven year old is most amazing. these are example who give pride to our next generation

What a bright kid.

Oh my God. It's a little, Southern Michael Pollan mini-me! Except more aggressive and a much faster talker.

wowwwwwwwwwww.. It was shown to us at school as part of our subjects and the speech was awesome

I'll bet he marched against Monsanto this sat. May 28 He has raised so much awareness. There are kids his age that had no idea what GMO's are. I saw an interview somewhere and a young girl was talking about seeing this video so she did a class project on GMO's. This young man has made a difference in the world. Bravo Birke Baehr. Thank you for encouraging teens TEDxTalks

Love this kid!!

can someone please turn this into a rapsong

Coming back here years later because Birke's quote has stuck with me all these years "“…we can either pay the farmer, or we can pay the hospital.”

Really cool knowledge. Appreciate the kid and his parents for bringing him up this way.

Somebody taught this kid how to speak. Now all we need to do is tell him what he should say.

Great inspiration from a kid.

Yessss this kid is amazing!!! A great talk about an important topic delivered very well :)

This was amazing! This young man is doing something with his life.

Thanks for this child,Good talks😃😃😃

I'm tired of seeing the word "sustainable" in conjunction with overpopulation denial (the idea that there can never simply be too many mouths). People also forget that most modern food is literally grown with oil, so you can't plan for a future that depends on that finite resource to maintain production levels.

Wow, very brave indeed. Much respect Birke!! Keep strong, keep spreading the truth!!

This is a TED audience not a bunch of basement dwellers trolling youtube. They are not laughing at him, nor are they disregarding what he is saying. Birke is doing something amazing, he is center stage delivering a discussion to a room packed with hundreds of adults. People that are professionals, well educated and informed. It's clear he is nervous but he's not letting that overcome him.

Wow, daddy really did put a lot of effort in making his kid say all of this, so that people would actually listen... In terms of content... weak, very weak. I don't get why he wants to change the fact that we can make food last longer, for instance... isn't it kinda wonderful to have that?

Nature isn't capable of intending anything.

He is right on the money about eating whole organic free range. He takes Jamie Olivers message to the heart. The farming practises he talks about are almost exclusive to the US where food production standards are driven by Food Corporations. Organic Free range farming is on the growth in Australia and New Zealand and the quality of farm produce is at world best. The export of farm produce from ANZ China is growing at a rate that will not be sustainable in the future, given the populations of both places. Australia primary producers are setting up joint ventures in China to develop their organic farming expertise. The US building junk food drive throughs.

People laugh at such inappropriate times in this video... just because he is a kid!! Good speech!

according to my religion we should never eat pig meat

BIG LIKE!!!i

this kid will live longer.....god bless every1

Way to speak out, the world needs wise and caring people in charge.

ik him he goes to my school

I really love that kid. He has more commonsense than most adults. His parents should be really proud

This was me as a kid, it's also me as an adult. My family was in farming until the market collapsed in Australia because of twisted business and environmental practises. This kid my new hero.

Now that's a kid who knows his facts! I LOVE IT!

Honestly, a lot of misconceptions in this talk (e.g. 1:25). It's good that he's trying but spreading disinformation is a big problem.

whats wrong with the food system is organic is twice as much..

Great Birke! Thank you!!!!

YOU hit on every one of the topics I talked about in my new children's book DIGGING DEEPER... You are awesome and give us a lot to think about.

hello, my name is Buurk Bear, and i'm 11 years old.😐

This kid is good-hearted and has good intentions, but he has no idea what he's talking about. There is absolutely no scientific data to uphold the negatives of GMOs. In fact, if you want to get technical, humans have been genetically modifying organisms since agriculture was invented by allowing crops with beneficial traits to live and procreate. Today, scientists take desired genes from other organisms and place them in others (like crops) to better preserve them, provide a new nutrient, etc. It's not like we're making a "tomato fish," but if we were, there would be no harm in eating it. Don't take my word for it though, just read this article.www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/08/can_gmo_corn_cause_allergies_don_t_believe_elle_s_scary_story.html

This is wonderful, exposing the truth and standing up for the next generation

SO GREAT ! wonderful and yes 1 step at a time :) congratulations for this speech

Hurray! Yes, let's pay the farmers. They feed us all.

if i understand well at 2:03 this is what he started talking about in french for the french guys that want to understand il dis que les fermes industriels son des fermes avec le CAFO la ou ils repreduse les animaux tous les 5 jours a 1 mois et les choses a mange ils ajoutent des pesticides pour que ca va plus loin et que les insects ne le mange pas. Tout sa pour etre riche, serieux pourqoui pas faire dess fermes organiques. Si tout le monde fesait des fermes organiques tout les fermes serais asser riche et qui aident l'environement sa aidera la terre beacoup plus que elle est la maintenant.

Wisdom... sharing this all over!

Congrats Boy! you teache me a big lession im from colombia and we eat all organic but company from usa are coming to colombia to sell this kinds of inorganic product for a cheaper prize also, keep open eyes Regards

he's mostly judged just because he's a kid but I have to agree with a lot of things he talked about

I am sorry but this kid is as artificial as crops he is talking about... not cool at all even if I totally agree to things he does say.

"out of the mouth of babes" I HAD TEARS IN MY EYES FROM HAPPINESS

I wanna give this kid a hug. Keep it up lad! Way to pursue something noble.

even a child knows something wrong with gmo, I'm grateful that our future generation will opt out from the lab and opt into nature

No matte how people looks at it, The reason why GMO exist is not because they are nice and they want everyone on this planet to have full stomach. The bottom line is always about a word - PROFIT. Why not take controls back in our own hands? Unless someone enjoys being slaves to the system which I'm sure there are a lot of people like that out there.

You can always tell a phony when it comes to question and Answer time. I looked on Birke's website and watched an interview as well as a Q+A session following a speech. Birke Baehr is NOT a phony. At 11 years old I am sure he had help in putting the speech together, but the material is his, and he is passionate.

Appreciate it. Glad there are a few people out there who are beginning to use reason rather than obey their fear in the struggle to think about how to prepare for future food shortages. We need to start growing bigger, more disease resistant and genetically diverse crops before it is too late. Genetic modification may be a radical step but properly controlled and regulated it could save billions from starving this century.