MC(f): Since 1970, droughts of greater intensity and longer duration have been observed across ever wider regions of the planet, especially in the tropics and subtropics. We cannot afford to waste water. Meat production uses massive amounts of water, taking up to 1,200 gallons of fresh water to produce just one serving of beef! Research by University of Chicago Professors, Dr. Gidon Eshel and Dr. Pamela Martin, found that being vegetarian for one year reduces emissions by 1.5 tons when compared to the standard American diet.
This reduction is 50% greater than that of switching from an SUV to a hybrid car. So being veg is more effective than changing your car! In contrast, a full vegan meal requires only 98 gallons of water. Currently, most of our food and water is being consumed by the meat industry instead of by people. However, there is still hope! It is such a relief that the solution is simple - just be vegan!
MC(m): And next, we will be hearing from Ms. Hira Jamtani. She will share with us the benefits of an organic vegan diet for improving the welfare of farmers and society as a whole. Ms. Hira Jamtani is an associate of the Third World Network based in Bali, Indonesia. She is a researcher on environmental issues and is very passionate about her work. Let's give a warm welcome to Ms. Hira Jamtani!
HJ(f): Good evening. May God bless you.
HJ(f): Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, friends. I just want to tell you a very sad story, one of those horror stories that you hear when you go out in the fields and meet farmers, okay? A farmer called Made Jojo in Bali, (Indonesian name) on this beautiful island where I live, one day had just sprayed his fields with pesticides. Half an hour later when he was eating, or he had wanted to eat, he fell down and fainted. Of course, there was panic - nobody knew why, nobody had beaten him up, nothing - just fell down and fainted.
And, of course, the family was in a panic, and they tried to bring him to the hospital, but he actually died on the way to the hospital. Being in a village, of course, there is this distance between the village where he lived and the nearest hospital. The doctor diagnosed him as being intoxicated - poisoning in other words. Three million people are poisoned every year in the world because of what we use in our fields. And many of us sometimes cannot relate to who produced the food, and how they produce it, to what we eat, especially in the cities. And this is the story about that which will then relate to global warming issues.
So what we are going to share with you today is the poison in our food and the poverty among farmers because these are related. Please remember when you eat your food, it is the farmers that produce your food, so we need to relate to farmers. And why and what is organic agriculture? Also, how does it relate to health, income and the environment? So when we talk about the environment, we will relate it to climate change later on. What is happening is, as I said, we are often not aware that we eat food produced by those who are intoxicated by pesticides.
Now, if a farmer can fall down, faint and die, can you imagine the kind of food that is on our table? We are talking about farmers who grow our food and are dying because of using these pesticides. Then, also our food is produced using chemicals that do not provide nutrition, although sometimes people think of it as medicine for the plants. It is not providing any nutrition but it actually poses a danger to our body.
But, most importantly, what we do in this so-called modern agriculture is we are poisoning the very resources that we use for farming - our soil and our water. Not only do we have a shortage of water, but that little water available is intoxicated, it is poisoned, because of what chemicals we put in the water system. And in doing so, what we do is we are endangering our future generation, if they survive the climate change. We are endangering our future generation because of climate change and if they survive the climate change, we still have to deal with this poisoning of the resources.
So, what we have is: nobody ever counts, no economist anywhere in the world tells us how much money we spend or what is the loss of people that are poisoned by pesticides. These are pictures of what happens to our farmers when they are poisoned by pesticides. And the residue is even in mother's milk, in the researches here in Indonesia, not anywhere else.
These are the figures that we have. At least 14 million farmers we know are intoxicated, although the potential is about 40 million farmers. And also it has been found that in Central Java, women farmers also are prone, 79% more prone to poisoning, to having miscarriage because of the poisons. So, as I said, we are also endangering our own children in the process.
Now, when we talk to the government and the scientists who develop this, they say, “Well, but we need more production in order to feed people.” The big question is then: Why are people still hungry? We saw the video, it was 800 million. This slide was made for, more in Asia. And out of that 800 million, 500 million are in Asia, the continent where we live. These are hungry people. And when you see who are the hungry people, you will be surprised that it is the farmers who grow our food that also go hungry.
Can you see the logic of the way our economy is having? So, 400 million farm households actually go hungry despite the advertisements of chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides that this will give you welfare. If they are healthy, then how do you answer this statistics? So, the very people who grow the food which we eat in the cities are actually hungry.
Please keep that in mind because it relates to how we treat our farmers. And because of the inequity, this whole modern system actually benefits the large farms and not the small farms. And because of the inequity, the smaller farmers go into debt. So this is what happens. So, we have more production but less welfare.
So now, the solution is quite simple. As with any other solution - it's a matter of whether we want to do it or not - and that is organic agriculture. Now, what is organic agriculture? Most people think it is just, you don't use chemicals but it's more than that. You don't use chemicals, you don't use genetically modified organisms and, most importantly, you use local resources -whether it is the seeds or the non-chemical fertilizers.
The most important thing is that it is sustainable in the sense that you do not pollute and you do not use the resources unnecessarily. So, it goes well into the future. That's why we call it “sustainable organic farming.” That is actually the right term. And one of the most important things is that it provides farmers' welfare. Remember when we talked about farmers not being in welfare and that farmers become independent in terms of the production input? So, when we look at organic agriculture, we look at it as a holistic thing, not just substituting the agro-chemicals with non-chemicals. It is also a matter of how do we make farmers' welfare and how do we ensure that the consumers get healthy food, and affordable. We all want affordable food, but we also don't want to make the farmers poor, right? So I'm just giving you some of the definitions.
Now, what and how? Again, the organic farming. We were talking about climate change and 18% of the greenhouse gas emission actually in the entire world - 18-20 actually - comes from agriculture. And that is the industrialized agriculture; a whole chunk of it is the meat industry. So it is rightly said, if you change the diet, but you must also change the industrialization of the agriculture, then you actually do a lot of mitigation and adaptation for climate change. And it provides a safe and healthy process; it reduces the poison in the environment. Of course, we hope it not only reduces but it eliminates totally the poison. We hope to do that. And please remember that we need to also increase the income of farmers. That's how we look at it.
In terms of health, because of the less poisoning or at least in places where the chemicals have not penetrated, then you actually have food which is totally devoid of chemical substances. Then you have safe food. But what is more important is you have more nutritional food. This has been proven in various journals scientifically that organic food has more nutrition, because it does not retain so much water.
If you keep organic food more than one week, it still stays, compared to the conventional farming method. And in that process, you also have healthier wildlife. In Europe and in the US, people are having trouble now because many vegetables and fruits are not well developed because they have lost the insects that are supposed to do the pollination. And why do they lose these insects? Because they have sprayed pesticides everywhere. I will give you the example of durian. “If there is no bat, there is no durian.” [kalau tidak ada kelelawar tidak ada durian. = “If there is no bat, there is no durian” in Indonesian] So, if we don't have the bats, you don't get the durian to fruit. But if you spray pesticides, then the bats are also poisoned, so you don't get a durian harvest. And that is very dangerous. Unless you do it of course - you put the pollen into the durian flowers.
HJ(f): In Indonesian, we say manual pollination will do. But if not, we need bats.
This is what one of the farmers who has switched to organic has said. He actually said that now we know we need healthy food and when we produce healthy food, we as farmers are also healthy. People are always telling me, “Can you really live on organic farming? Can Indonesia survive on organic farming?” And we see that there are indications - yes, we can, as long as we do it properly. And this is an analysis from Africa that you see - there's an increase of productivity by 116%. But also worldwide there's been research of over 20 years worldwide: the cereal yields have gone up from 50 to 200%. And the third one is important. In developing countries like Indonesia, actually 80% higher harvests.
So, we do have evidence: as long as you combine the new technology, the agro-ecosystem and you provide independence to the farmers and policy support. So, many of you who are from government people here, the policy support is very much needed. So, I'm just giving you an example of what is called the System Rice Intensification. It uses less water, it's organic-based, it uses only local-based materials. And if we do this, we actually save water by 46%, but also we don't have to open up more land for rice. Then, you have less land, but more productivity.
This is the environmental benefit. We retain biodiversity and we retain wildlife. One of the things that surprised me when I saw the fruit plate is, of course, the imported fruits on that plate. Because many of us have lost the taste for the diversity of fruits that we have, because of the way we produce food in a monocultural way, which then includes the chemicals.
So when you go back to organic agriculture, you also create a bigger base for other seeds. I've seen it in Bali when we tell farmers to go back to organic agriculture - the old seeds survive. They start collecting the old seeds. And these seeds are actually adapted to climate change. They use less water and all that. You don't have to do a big experiment in the lab, you actually talk to the farmers and they tell you which seeds are available.
This is another study in the Philippines. What we are going to say is that it is not just the income, but the fact that farmers are more organized and they become more independent. That's why I use the word “welfare.” It's not just about eating, but it's about feeling that you are in the right direction in life. And I think that's important. Okay, so my message is that when we, aside from making sure that the soil is healthy, we also need to make sure that the food growers are in welfare which creates welfare for ourselves.
And this welfare is based on local organic agriculture, on local knowledge systems, seeds, and foods. We have forgotten this. When we talk about climate change, when you switch to this, you actually reduce a lot of emissions. We eat fruits that are grown in our locality rather than buy imported fruits for instance. That is very important.
Now, in line with the theme of today's seminar, having been a vegetarian for the past 20 years, I can easily relate to the theme - vegan and organic. If you eat less meat, it's true that you reduce emissions a lot. If you eat less meat and organic, you reduce even more emissions. If you eat less meat, organic, and local, you reduce even more emissions.
And this is a solution that you can do at the individual level, that you don't wait for the experts or the government to do anything. It's a choice. You can make this choice. And I think this seminar is very valuable in teaching us towards that. You make that choice. Because 80% of the emissions in industrialized farming actually goes into meat production. And one of the reasons I became vegetarian was the inequity in which animals are fed with grains that should have gone to humans.
So you're actually depriving people when you eat meat, depriving hungry people of their grain. And I think that's a serious issue that we need to take up ethically in our own individual life. So now, we do have a vision. You know, we saw Madam Amanda's [Ibu =“Madam” in Indonesian] presentation about climate change, how bad it is, and so do we want to see our children like this?
Refugees in 2050? Everything now the experts say 2050. Or do we want to see this?
The vision is your choice. I have made a choice, I want to see this baby growing up the organic way. So you make your choice. Thank you very much.
MC(m): Thank you, Ms. Hira Jamtani, for sharing with us your valuable insights. Ladies and gentlemen, we are delighted and honored that you have set aside some of your precious time and joined us today to learn more about the threats, the causes and the most effective solutions to curb climate change. As we have heard, just an organic vegan diet improves our lifestyle both ecologically and compassionately.
MC(f): In support for Ms. Hira, if you, ladies and gentlemen, if you look in front of here, we actually have locally organic Padi plants here and look how beautiful they are. So we should really support our local organic farming. Perhaps you might even want to try at home, in your back garden? Thank you. Organic fruits and vegetables are not just better for the environment, they contain no pesticides or fertilizers, use lower resources and, therefore, are healthier for you as well. For more information, please consult the links available on Supreme Master Television's website at www.SupremeMasterTV.com. There is an abundance of free information available on the internet that is compiled by research of world acclaimed scientists and reputable organizations.
MC(m): And now, ladies and gentleman, in one minute, it will be time for all of us to take a short prayer. It's our tradition and we would like to invite audience members to pray for a sustainable planet for all. After the prayer, special guests of honor will share some very important messages. Thank you very much. MC(f): Thank you.
MC(m): Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests and worldwide viewers, welcome back to our seminar, “Vegan Organic for Prosperity and to Save the Planet from Climate Change.”
MC(f): We need to raise awareness amongst all people, both here in Indonesia and around the world. Let us spread the word to our friends and relatives. We pray that many more will join us in changing their daily eating habits and adopt a frugal lifestyle. If everyone on this planet makes the effort and changes, food shortage problems will be greatly solved, and greatly accelerating our planet's healing process. Time is crucial. We must all do our part to save the planet. Being vegan is not only for prosperity and posterity, but it is also very healthy for us. It gives me great pleasure to introduce our next speaker, Dr. Anton Budiono, who, as a medical doctor, is someone who cares very much about both our health and the health of our planet.
MC(m): Dr. Budiono graduated from the University of Indonesia in 1986. He is a navy doctor and an expert in natural therapy. His talk today is titled “Vegan Raw Food as the Best Alternative Diet for Human Health.” Let us welcome Dr. Anton Budiono!
AB(m): Good afternoon, respected audience! I will present some of the advantages of being vegetarian from the health perspective. Another speaker pointed out that vegetarianism is necessary based on emissions or from other points of view. I will describe the health aspects, mostly based on my experience while maintaining my practice in the clinic. Normally there are many debates on whether it is necessary to be a vegetarian or not, and I myself had the same experience before becoming a vegetarian. Is it necessary to be a vegetarian? If we do not consume meat it is said that our body will become weak. I tried to work out a way to find the right answer. Then, deep in my heart, I realized I had to be a person who only consumed vegetables.
Why? Because I cannot bear to see chickens and cows being slaughtered. When cows are at their productive age, they have to work hard and when they get old, instead of being well taken care of, they are slaughtered. I felt that this is not fair, and then I thought it must be wrong that we have to eat like this. During my search, I found two methods of approach: by science, with its basis in religion. My religion is Catholicism. I try to read a lot to find what the true way of life is, starting from the food aspect. Later on in the Bible I found that at the beginning of creation, if we return to the course of our creation, which is to our God, well, it has to be correct, right? Logic says it is.
Now what was it that I read in the Bible that happened on the first day? It was the separation between day and night. Then on the second day, it was the creation of the horizon, that is the separation between air and water, then land. And after the land, then plants were created. Then morning and night were created. Then animals were created, then afterwards humans. Then on the seventh day, all was completed. This is according to my belief.
It was cited in the Bible in Genesis 1:29. God said, “Behold, I have given you…” `you' here refers to humans, “…every herb-bearing seeds which are upon the face of the Earth and every tree that has fruit with seeds in it,” and it was emphasized, “this shall be your food.” So, it is obvious here what shall be our number 1 food - fruits. And then next in Genesis 3:18, “Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and plants on the field shall be your food.” So, first it was fruits, second, vegetables, because it was mentioned there are plants.
So, the conclusion is that since the beginning of creation humans were created as vegetarian beings. Yes, and then later the murder occurred in which blood was shed on Earth - that's when humans became fierce. Killings started to happen, blood was shed on Earth, and that included the eating of animal flesh. Nowadays, it is so apparent; we can see that. Many had eaten the so-called "4Bs." What is the first “B” (B1)? I did not know that beforehand. B1 means "Bian"(dog). It turns out that they eat dogs. It is terrifying to hear such things because I am a dog lover. Second, there is B2. What is B2? It turns out to be pigs. They eat pigs, then they eat dogs. Third, they eat babies as well. Yes, the fourth one again, some did not eat pigs but I am sorry to say that they "eat" the maids.
This is even more chaotic, and it became more complicated. They "eat" the maids, the single ones. They molested the maids. It is hard to accept that humans are degrading to the worst state, because since the beginning, they have disobeyed what had been arranged by the Almighty. That's it. This point of view has already been described by the previous speaker, that livestock farming contributes around 18%- 20% of all emissions, of the total human- produced emissions, with transportation being around 13%. From this we know that actually the main source of carbon emissions is not from engine combustion, but it is mainly from the livestock industry which provides us with available meat.
It has also been announced that reducing meat consumption and increasing plant-based consumption is one of the ways that we can save the Earth. So, we already have the final countdown: time is running short then it will be finished. Let's just hope that all of us, as vegans, will be saved by the mercy of the Almighty. Because we do not know, right? Healthy, healthy, healthy. If one is healthy, the brain might function well. Hopefully our prayers will be granted. Now, we go a little bit into the health aspect, which is my specialty. It is easy to detect if humans are sick or if they are healthy.
If they are declared to be sick, it should be based on a blood check or that the urine must be acidic. What does acidic mean? In chemistry, if the PH number is 7, then it's neutral. Below 7 is acidic, above 7 is alkaline. Almost all cancer patients I have met, their PH number is 4.5 or 5.5. so it's below the ideal PH of 7.35-7.45. This also includes chronic and incurable diseases. The only key is to make your blood become alkaline. How are we going to do this? It's easy. We get rid of the acid, we add in the alkaline. It's that simple.
And it will progress with time, it will turn back the wheel and those who are sick will become healthy again. Remember the human body is a computer, a super computer, which is incredibly smart. Give it the right food, and that's it! It will regulate all by itself. But here comes the role of the individual - if it's for health, then it's herbal, only herbs can speed up the process. What does this mean? If we have liver problem will we recover ? by becoming a vegetarian? Yes, we will recover. But it will take some time.
But with the herbal power here, we can. This herb is special for the liver, and it also helps other organs, thus the healing process will accelerate very quickly. If you have not seen a doctor, it is not necessary, just be vegetarian, you will definitely be cured. Just wait for a while and believe. Yes, believe “I will be healed just like this.” Even cancer, which we have been told is incurable. Here, I give three months, it will be cured. This was my advice before.
Please don't eat acidic foods. Don't eat meat. Also, food processed with oil and dried is definitely acidic. Sugar is acidic. Processed food must be preserved with acid - benzoic acid, nitric acid. The food even tastes sour when eaten. That's not good. But then there are questions such as: “Oranges are sour, if this gets into our body, does it become acidic?” No, that's the wonder of plants!
Even if they're sour in the first place, our body turns them alkaline. The sourness has its own role to play. The sour taste will not turn into acid in our body, but it draws the active substance to the liver. It will not turn into acid in our body so drinking orange juice is okay. It will turn it into alkaline, especially after we drink sour juices, if we exercise, it will be burnt and all turn into alkaline.
So we have no problem having vegetables and fruits despite their sour taste; our body it will turn them into alkaline and we will become healthier, mentally and physically. If you are faced with the following symptoms, it means your body is acidic already: for instance, bloated stomach, constipation. We have lots of this in the clinic, these kind of sicknesses, that have been seen by many doctors but never cured. If it is only bloated stomach and constipation then the medication is very simple. Just be a vegetarian. You will be cured normally within three weeks.
Now, if the body weight keeps increasing, the body must be acidic… including getting the flu, coughing very often. Other people, when soaked by rain even just a little bit, may get sick immediately. If an “acidic” person sit next to a friend who has the flu, he/she will get infected. Actually, if we are exposed to rain for an hour, it should be okay. Working until late at night should be no problem. It means his/her body normally is alkaline.
When the oral ulceration cannot be healed, it is said to be due to a lack of vitamin C. Taking 2 grams of vitamin C every day, no one will get cured. If it was due to acidic substance, he/she will not be cured. Easily tired, lack of energy? Waking up early, but the body does not feel fresh, and still feels tired, it still wants some sleep? That means the body is acidic. If the skin also has a problem, reddish skin or a kind of psoriasis or eczema... it is said that psoriasis cannot be cured.
Actually, by changing our diet, it will be cured. It takes 3-4 months to be cured. Then chronic allergies, hypertension - hypertension will also take 3 weeks to be cured. If following a vegan diet, it will be 95% cured Then cholesterol, uric acid, high blood sugar, too. Body odor, oral or feet - it is not necessary to apply any medicine, but by taking something which has a cleansing quality, it will be completely cured. And it's permanently cured, it really gets cured. Now, joints and muscle pains, especially when waking up in the morning. When you wake up, if your body is stiff along the whole body, it is difficult to move around. That means the body must be acidic.
Now, for ourselves, if we want to know how to check the acid from these symptoms, please check yourself by using litmus paper. The paper, if immersed in acid will turn red. If alkaline, blue. Now, when you urinate in the morning, if you have the litmus paper, catch the urine In midstream, then immerse the paper. What is the color? If it's red, then it's acidic. It means you are sick. If the color is blue consistently, you have been healed. It takes time to be healed. These are alkaline foods. All vegetables and fruits are alkaline, plus minerals.
This shows that God's pharmacy is wonderful. It has been scientifically researched, and secondly, we see it in a simple fashion; it's not necessary to go for a Ph.D. Look for a while and we will understand immediately, because we have been shown the signs of what each of these are meant for. God's pharmacy is really wonderful! Look at this slice of carrot. It looks like an eye, right? In the middle is the pupil, at the edge is the iris. The image in the middle and the radial lines are very similar to the iris and pupil.
Indeed science has shown that carrots are very beneficial to the blood circulation and the function of the eye's receptor cell. And I will definitely use this for people with any eye sickness, and totally blind or partially blind people. I will prescribe carrots as the basic material for my therapy. That's my patient who lost his eyesight. Within three months, after switching to a vegetarian diet, he could see. This is real evidence. And it is not just one person. One person may be a coincidence, but many people have already changed their diet and have been healed. It turns out to be very simple.
This one is a tomato. People say the tomato is normally for prostate, but it can actually be for heart disease, because it looks like a ventricle. This one is also for the heart because it is said to contain resveratrol. This is a walnut, it looks like a brain - walnuts. So people who are afraid of senility, please eat walnuts. These are kidney beans. If the kidney has problems, eat kidney beans. It looks like a kidney. This is celery, it looks like bone. So anyone with bone or muscle problems, or arthritis, please eat celery, eat a lot of celery. Avocado… it looks like a woman's genital organ. So, anyone with menstruation problems, please look for this and eat it. This is a fig. If you are barren, or impotent, look for this. Sweet potatoes, this looks like the pancreas.
So, people with diabetes are allowed to eat sweet food if it is made from sweet potatoes. Olives are for the ovary. So, anyone with a menstrual disorder, please eat olives, both the oil and the fruit itself. This one is for women. If you have problems with breast gland pains during menstruation, please eat plenty of oranges. According to research, they contain limonine, which helps prevent breast cancer. Red onion - a toxin discharger for our cells, restoring damage caused to our cell membranes due to free radicals. These are the comparisons for you to switch to a vegetarian diet. Thanks for your attention.
MC(m): Thank you, Dr. Budiono, for your enlightening presentation.
Fredy Nuril(m): I do not understand very well what global warming is; that's one of the reasons why I came here, so I could learn about it. I learned something about the benefits of the organic vegan diet to stop global warming here. I work in the entertainment industry and my working schedule is not regular, so it has to be supported by appropriate food. Maybe this organic, vegan diet can support my lifestyle also. Society must now be more open-minded and be more healthy. Hi, I am Fredy Nuril. I am an actor. Be veg! Go green! And save the planet!
Domino (m): This event was very interesting. It has opened our minds and made us aware of the global situation of the world at this moment. Domino (m): May we care more for our Earth, and do more to preserve it. May more and more people become vegan, become vegetarian, so that the Earth can become healthier.
Be veg! Go green! And save the planet!
Tari Pendet is a ritual dance that is usually performed in Balinese temples to welcome the gods before special ceremonies. The dance is presented here today by Association members along with their friends as a welcome gesture to all of us present here, as well as to all the Supreme Master Television live viewers that are with us here in spirit.
MC(f): In our last presentation, Professor Aris Ananta will elaborate more on the determinants of the availability of food based on three points, and they are: speculative economy, demand, and supply.
MC(m): Professor Aris Ananta is a senior researcher at the Institute of South East Asian Studies in Singapore. He will be presenting a working paper titled “Paradigm on Economic Development and Food Security.” Let us welcome Professor Aris Ananta!
AA(m): Thank you very much.
AA(m): This is very timely, actually, very timely. Why? The first one you know - we are experiencing a global crisis, and the world is now thinking about new development paradigms. Without new development paradigms, the crisis will happen again and worse. Now, you know that the financial sector has been improving, but that is very fragile. No fundamental changes have been made in the mainstream economics. I am an economist, but I'd like to change the development paradigm of economics. Many people in the world are also working in that direction.
So this seminar is very, very timely. We, from Indonesia, can contribute to the world development paradigm. Second: Why it is very timely? This morning, the new government of Indonesia just appointed a new cabinet. And one thing that makes me happy is the appointment of Professor Dr. Armida Alisjahbana as the chairperson of the National Development Planning Agency. Professor Alisjahbana is an economist with much concern about the environment. So, I hope it reflects the choice of the government on economists with interest in the environment.
Hopefully, with the assignment of Professor Alisjahbana as the head of the National Development Planning Agency, we can change the direction of development, change the direction of economic programs in Indonesia. Well, I would like also to thank the State Minister of Environment for inviting me, allowing me to share my ideas with this distinguished audience, and especially also that Supreme Master Ching Hai, hopefully, will be listening to me, too, and we could work together in changing the development paradigm. What I want to mention… actually, only three things.
First, change the development paradigm. I tell this especially to my fellow economists - change the development paradigm from a growth-oriented model to something else. So far, we always, we economists, talk about income growth as the most important thing in the world. But we have to change that development paradigm. The second message is: eliminate speculative behavior in the economy. We know that speculative behavior has been the cause of the crisis in the world. And people are doing speculative behavior in the financial sector. They are not happy on that one, they go to the energy market, they go to the food market. So, to create food security we have to work together, everybody in the world, and we, in Indonesia, have to eliminate speculative behavior in the market, including speculative behavior in the food market.
In Indonesia, we have Islamic economics and this can be used to eliminate speculative behavior. The third message is that we have to involve the business community to be able to implement the new development paradigm. Without the involvement of the business community, it is impossible to do this thing. We have to know Indonesia has a 230-million population. It's a big, big market. Everybody wants to use Indonesia, it's a big market. Why don't we see ourselves as a big market? And the new government, I believe, now also understands this one.
And I'd like to show you that not many people are already in the business of making organic, vegan food. So why do you not join it now, while not many people are working in the organic food market? It is a lucrative business, 230 million-population Indonesia, produced locally like Madam Hira mentioned. Another important thing, it's not only a lucrative business, but the price must be affordable, the price must be low so that we can reach the 230-million population of Indonesia.
Why do I like to be here, ladies and gentlemen? Tonight there are free delicious organic, vegan foods! Last thing, but importantly, is good governance. When we want to have food security, we have to remember good governance, we have to remember about social responsibility, we have to remember that when we produce food we should avoid corruption in the production and marketing of the food.
This is the new paradigm I have been talking about in the last year. So, I talked about food security in the framework of this new paradigm. These are some important issues on creating food security. First, I mentioned, that it must be environmentally friendly development, for example, by producing organic, vegan food. Good governance, by creating social responsibility, no corruption in production and marketing. It must be people-centered development. It should be healthy by consuming less meat and dairy products.
Make the consumers informed on the quality of the food product. Don't cheat the consumers, inform the consumers. Make people educated. That's also the responsibility of us who want to produce organic, vegan food. Third is: ability to move. That is, guaranteeing consumers the ability to move anywhere in the world to enjoy environmentally friendly healthy food and having freedom from fear, guaranteeing the freedom to consume whatever people like to consume. What should we do? We should help the government, we work with everybody, inform the people of the need to create an environmentally friendly and healthy lifestyle.
Make it as a new icon of modernity, that a modern man and woman, a modern boy and a modern girl, should be people who are concerned about the environment. The price should be low to be able to reach the majority of the large number of the population. This is to get the largest profit. We should bring gastronomy to help make it affordable and also tasty.
My friend said that when I brought him to eat vegetarian food and I asked him whether he liked it. He said, “I don't care if it's vegetarian or not, the most important for me is `delicious.'” So tasty food is also important and gastronomy should be included if we want to create an environment which is profitable in the business of organic, vegan food. Well, I become hungry, cannot wait for the dinner! Yes, it should be environment-friendly healthy products. It is an emerging, lucrative business.
The last recommendation is that one of the criteria to measure the success of a government is whether it can supply affordable, environmentally friendly, healthy food products to the majority of the population. I hope the government of Indonesia, every three months, can make a report whether they have been successful in supplying affordable, environmentally friendly, healthy food products - not only economic growths.
Economic growth is second or third. But this is a very important criterion and I believe the government of Indonesia can do it. Every three months, make a report to the whole population of Indonesia and the world whether it's already making progress in supplying affordable, environmentally friendly, healthy food in Indonesia. Thank you very much.
MC(f): Thank you, Professor Aris Ananta, for taking time out of your busy schedule to share such valuable information with us. Once again, there is a very strong call. Let us all spread the message about why it's important to become organic vegan today so that our beautiful planet and all living beings on her, become healthier, and so that we can all maintain our food security by shortening the chain of food production. We have now come to the end of our line-up of expert presentations.
We feel truly fortunate to be able to participate in this climate change seminar and sincerely thank the Ministry of Environment for hosting this very significant event. The Ministry of Environment considers this seminar as a timely and positive response to the unprecedented urgency with which we need to find a solution to the escalating problem of climate change.
MC(m): We would now like to invite you to join us in listening to some music that we are sure you will agree will calm our hearts and soothe our souls. This is a particularly soothing music called “Arumba,” played on traditional bamboo instruments which are uniquely Indonesian, and can be enjoyed by people from all walks of life. Sit back, relax and enjoy this beautiful music, performed by a young generation of musicians who aspire to carry on that musical tradition, whilst also caring about our living environment.
MC(f): The first music is a traditional Javanese piece. And the second music is a modern composition, named “Mission Impossible.” For some people, to save the world seems an impossible mission, but nothing is impossible for us if we are determined to work hand-in-hand to save the planet. We hope you enjoy them.
MC(f): Beautiful, soothing music, isn't it, everyone? MC(m): See, I told you.
MC(f): Bamboo instruments originate from Indonesia and have been used and played by the Sundanese in West Java since ancient times. Sundanese people used “Angklung” to signify time for prayer as well as for building community spirit.
MC(m): And now, we invite you to look at the image displayed on the stage background. The symbol you see there is called the “Kayon” which, in Indonesia, represents change. We need constructive change right now to cope with climate change. Specifically, the change we need now is to adopt the vegan diet, and under the Kayon, you can see organic vegan images. Again, please give another round of applause for our young generation and their wonderful performance!
MC(f): So many people, both dedicated professionals and volunteers, have been involved in the preparation of this event. Many of us are aware of what climate change means to our beloved country through the significant impact it is already having on our daily lives. Recent occurrences of earthquakes and mudslides in Indonesia and neighboring countries show the seriousness of this problem. Scientists are also providing confirming evidence of the unstable and dangerous situation in which our planet finds herself.
MC(m): Next on our program is the highlight of today's seminar, a videoconference with our most beloved Supreme Master Ching Hai! We are sure that her honorable presence in this seminar will help to elevate the consciousness of the people in Indonesia, and of viewers around the world.
MC(f): Supreme Master Ching Hai is a renowned humanitarian, spiritual teacher, poet, composer and highly accomplished artist. For over two decades, she has devoted herself to helping people in need around the world and to promote an ecological and compassionate lifestyle. For her tremendous philanthropic contributions, in 2006 she received the prestigious Gusi Peace Prize award, which is equivalent to the Nobel Peace Prize of the East - just one example of countless awards she has received for her worldwide humanitarian works.
MC(m): And more recently, Supreme Master Ching Hai has provided support to the victims of many of the natural disasters occurring with greater frequency around the world. Indonesia has always had a special place in Master's heart. Whenever there was a disaster in Indonesia - be it a tsunami, a typhoon, an earthquake, or a flood - Supreme Master Ching Hai has always sent an immediate donation and relief teams to ease the suffering of our Indonesian people.
MC(f): Supreme Master Ching Hai has been invited to many international conferences to discuss global warming with scientists, politicians, journalists and many leaders from around the world. She has shared with them, and the public, the easiest and the most effective way to solve global warming, which has been supported by the United Nations and many other authorities and scientists as well. Supreme Master Ching Hai has been invited as guest of honor to attend this most meaningful event, and we are very, extremely, happy and honored that she can join us today through a videoconference.
MC(m): Ladies and gentlemen, let's now welcome Supreme Master Ching Hai with a warm round of applause!
MC(f): Hi, Master, how are you? You look lovely today!
Supreme Master Ching Hai: Hi, hi. Hallo, everyone!
MC(f): Yes. Hi! Thank you for joining us today!
Supreme Master Ching Hai: Thanks for having me. Thank you. God bless you. God bless all of you. God bless Indonesia.
MC(f&m): Thank you, Master!
MC(f): Supreme Master Ching Hai, before we begin our question-and-answer session, would you like to share some of your thoughts about climate change with us?
Supreme Master Ching Hai: I'd be honored to join you today. And I'm sure all of us already know, through the distinguished guest speakers, through their contribution of knowledge to our dire situation of the planet, but I'll be glad and honored to share a few thoughts. I hope everyone is okay. How are you? Are you okay? Feel good?
MC(f): We're really good, thank you, Master.
Supreme Master Ching Hai: Splendid. Splendid. I will try some Indonesian, like “Nice to see you!” [Senang bertemu Anda! =“Nice to see you” in Indonesian]
MC(f): That's really good, Master! MC(m): Nice to meet you too, Supreme Master!
Supreme Master Ching Hai: I'm very honored to be here today and meet the beautiful people of Indonesia again, since a long time. And, of course, my heart would like to give the best of thanks to all the distinguished guest speakers, dignitaries and audience members, as well as the media for your participation and support. Indonesia, your country, is an amazing nation of many islands, beautiful, beautiful, with a variety of ethnic cultures that are harmonized through your national motto: “Unity in Diversity.” Beautiful motto.
Supreme Master Ching Hai: Yes, beautiful. Your land is also richly endowed with natural wonders, and a myriad of colorful living beings who live in the forest and beneath the seas around you. I was so sorry to know of the earthquake disaster recently that struck your communities. I had conveyed my humble prayers and some humble emergency support, and I'll continue to pray for the safety of your people, as I do for the rest of the people of the world.
On this shared island in space we call “Earth,” we have been abundantly given everything we need, but we must care for it while we still have the chance. Specifically, it is time to protect Indonesia. Protect her oceans and lush forest - the largest of all in Asia, is in Indonesia. I pray that through this important event all of us will be further motivated to preserve the beautiful country of Indonesia as one of the jewels of our planet. So I convey my best wishes for a successful conference today.
In just a few days, scientists from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will be meeting in Bali. That's another beautiful place in your country. I have been there. May this gathering, significant in its own way, serve as a push for genuine concern for the momentum that we need to save our planet in time. May Allah bless you all. May Allah bless Indonesia. Thank you ever so much!
MC(m): Thank you, Supreme Master Ching Hai, for your insightful words. And we would like to thank you for all the humanitarian work that you have done for Indonesia, for so many people in so many places.
Interviewee (m): Yes, we must do something. My message to the world is to be consistent in being a vegan because in reality being vegan is a quick way to save the world from the global warming crisis. Save the animals which have suffered all this time and then bring them back to the forest again to help them play their roles for all of us. Be veg! Go green! Save the planet!
Ghea Artist Spoken in Indonesian Ms. Ghea (f): As one of the younger generation, I feel this is the time that we have to act and do something. And after I saw today's presentation, it is enough to open my mind regarding "What should we do?" And it turns out there are a lot of things we must do. And it's so amazing! I am happy a lot of my friends still care about global warming. I am still learning as to how I can change my diet so it will be a better diet, not only for the world, but for myself too. Hopefully I can do it as soon as possible. Be veg! Go green! Save the planet!