Speech Success!
ACE Staff
|March 28, 2011

Awesome news! Last month, our New England Youth Rep, Enxhi Popa, gave her first-ever speech for over 200 people at the Northeast Food Justice Summit. She did an amazing job. Her speech brought up the ol’ lump in my throat as I listened to her articulate her powerful personal story about why she cares about Food Justice.
What was it like for her to speak in front of 200 people at the conference?
She says, “I was very excited to speak in front of the room. I was a little nervous and scared because there were many people in the room, but overall I was just excited to speak my mind. The room was filled with people who felt the same way as me about climate change and food justice therefore, it was easy to talk to people who were ready to fix this problem.”
People may have been ready to listen, but no one could avoid being re-inspired and rejuvinated to hear Enxhi’s story. I hope her speech motivates you to speak out about your own passions and keep fighting for the solutions you want to see in the world. Thank you, Enxhi!
Check it out.
Enxhi’s speech:
Hello Northeast!
My name is Enxhi Popa and I’m a senior at Somerville High School. I was born in Albania and I lived there until I was thirteen. In Albania, I saw smoke everywhere. I did not know what to do about it. I remember cars would release smoke in the air and all I could do was hold my breath so I would not inhale it. As a 10 year old, that was the biggest action I took: to not allow bad air to enter my lungs. However, as a 16 year old I realize the power that I have as a youth. What makes youth so much more powerful than any other generation is our determination and passion to create a better environment for ourselves to live in the future.
I grew up in a slightly different environment. Growing up in Albania, it is part of our mentality and mindset to eat a lot of vegetables and not eat out. I know in my home, my mom always cooked us delicious food, I especially love her homemade lasagna. We had a local Farmer’s Market where we would go every week to buy all of our veggies and meat. The food was fresh and I remember it was nice to be able to talk to the farmers who grew the food that we were about to buy and then put into our bodies. There was a great variety of vegetables and fruits like shiny red apples, juicy oranges, cucumbers, and eggplants.
When we moved to America, all of a sudden there was no more time to eat at home. With work and school it was hard for my mom to cook food at home and it was also hard for me to find a time when we could all eat together. This is when I found a whole new world of food, the world of cookies, brownies, cupcakes, and chips. All this fast food became part of my life and it was very accessible. I mean, don’t you guys feel the same way?
Whenever you enter a supermarket there are so many different packaged foods. There are the little orange Reese’s on one isle inviting you to eat them, and there are skittles on the other side who want you to taste the rainbow. And if you ever need a moment there’s always Twix. Then you step out of the supermarket and just scanning the area once, you can see at least three fast food stores with giant ads about their hamburgers and pizzas. Something that has really surprised me about America is the accessibility and prices of Soda. I remember when I was younger I only had soda for special occasions like birthdays and New Years. However, here soda is SOOOOOO cheap that I can drink it everyday.
In June of 2009, I joined a group in my community called the Green Team with Groundwork Somerville. In the beginning I joined it because it was a summer job that would allow me to work outside and get a tan, and let’s face it, who doesn’t need some cash during the summer?
With the Green Team I got to tend gardens, and grow eatable plants. It is priceless to witness the miracle of life unfolding in front of your eyes. I got to see the journey of one tiny pepper seed that I planted and watered for weeks as it transformed into a ripe pepper. I remember when we were in one of the gardens and there was a cucumber and tomato that were just ripe to be picked. I went next to the plant and pulled the tomato. It was the best tomato I have ever tasted. Not only because of its juiciness and freshness, but also because I was part of the growing process of that tomato. Eating this healthy freshly grown food, it made me realize what I was missing. Why have steamy hamburgers with so many processed ingredients when you can have a fresh sandwich with vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, and peppers?
Witnessing and tasting this difference, I joined the Green Club at my high school. With the Green Club we run a recycling program and now we just started a garden and built some raised beds. In the spring we are going to plant some eatable plants that we can harvest and hopefully use in our cafeteria.
Throughout this weekend you guys will hear a lot about how we should all make a difference in our country’s food chains. But why? Why is eating healthy so important?
Statistics show that 74% of Americans are overweight. This means that 7 out of 10 people do not exercise enough, overeat, and are more likely to have different types of diseases. It is weird to think that people actually eat food that harms them and even puts their lives in danger. The CHEAPEST food is also the most unhealthy! This is why obesity in America is actually a bigger problem for economically disadvantaged people! And because processed foods are high in calories and low in nutrients, you can be overweight AND still be undernourished! We all have a right to affordable, healthy food.
Additionally, buying processed and non-local food contributes to climate change by supporting the big industries that spend so much fossil fuels to grow and transport food from coast to coast. Climate change and food justice are huge problems facing our generation. But they share a solution–creating a healthy, just, local food system that is free of fossil fuels.
As a 10 year old, holding my breath was the biggest action I could take to protect myself from an unhealthy environment. At 16 I realized the power I have as a youth and the changes I can make in the world around me. Well, now seeing all of you guys together I realize the power that WE as youth have.
Food Justice and climate change are big issues that will not be solved in one day, with one speech or with one conference. But we can all take responsibility over what we put in our bodies, where we spend our money and how we spend our time. We can grow food in a yard at home, a porch, a windowbox, at school, in a community garden. We can stick together and keep working hard to spread this change around the world.
I want to point out how lucky we are that we have access to healthy food because not all places in the world do.
So now as I end my speech I would like to launch a challenge to you.
Find out where the farmer’s market in your area are and make a commitment to go there and buy food once a week. Make it a habit to make healthier choices like buying organic local food, checking where your food comes from and making sure to buy the food that is produced closest to where you live.
So remember, one spark starts a fire. We have the spark, lets spread the fire.
Thank you.
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