TED演讲：中美洲南部的园丁游击队员(2)

 　　So me and my group, L.A. Green Grounds, we got together and we started planting my food forest, fruit trees, you know, the whole nine, vegetables.  因此我和我的团队，“洛杉矶绿地”，我们聚在一起开始种植自己的食物森林，果树，还有整整九种蔬菜。

　　What we do, we're a pay-it-forward kind of group, where it's composed of gardeners from all walks of life, from all over the city,  我们是一个自由的组织，由来自不同行业不同城市的园丁组成，

　　and it's completely volunteer, and everything we do is free. And the garden, it was beautiful. 大家全都是志愿者，我们所做的一切都是义务的。花园非常的美丽。

　　And then somebody complained.  但是很快就有人抱怨。

　　The city came down on me, and basically¹ gave me a citation² saying that I had to remove my garden, which this citation was turning into a warrant³.  政府指责我，给了我张告票通知我必须移除我的花园，之后告票变成了警告函。

　　And I'm like, "Come on, really? A warrant for planting food on a piece of land that you could care less about?"  我心想“搞什么，来真的？禁止在一小块土地上种食物，而之前这块土地却没人关心？

　　And I was like, "Cool. Bring it."  然后我想，“酷，就这样吧。”

　　Because this time it wasn't coming up. So L.A. Times got ahold of it.  因为这次什么都没发生。所以洛杉矶时报报道了。

　　Steve Lopez did a story on it and talked to the councilman, and one of the Green Grounds members,  斯蒂夫·洛佩兹写了个关于它的故事，并和议员以及一个绿地组织的成员进行了交谈，

　　they put up a petition⁴ on Change.org, and with 900 signatures, we were a success.  他们将请愿书上传到了Change.org，并且收集到了900个签名，我们成功了！

　　We had a victory on our hands. My councilman even called in and said how they endorse⁵ and love what we're doing.  我们用我们的双手获得成功。议员甚至前来拜访，表达了他有多么赞赏和热爱我们所做的。

　　I mean, come on, why wouldn't they? L.A. leads the United States in vacant⁶ lots that the city actually owns.  我的意思是，当然啦，他们怎么能不这么做呢？洛杉矶所拥有的空地的数量在美国名列前茅。

　　They own 26 square miles of vacant lots. That's 20 Central Parks.  它拥有26平方公里的空地。那是20个中央公园。

　　That's enough space to plant 725 million tomato plants.  有足够的空间去种植七亿两千五百万的番茄。

　　Why in the hell⁷ would they not okay this?  他们究竟为什么觉得这样不好呢？

　　Growing one plant will give you 1,000, 10,000 seeds.  种一棵树能够收到一千，甚至一万颗种子。

　　When one dollar's worth of green beans will give you 75 dollars' worth of produce.  一美元的绿豆可以为你带来75美元的收成。

　　It's my gospel, when I'm telling people, grow your own food. Growing your own food is like printing your own money. Alright? Thank you. 这是我的信条，我告诉人们，种植你们自己的食物吧。自己种食物就好像自己印钱似的。好吗？谢谢你！

1 basically   

adv.基本上，从根本上说

参考例句：

• His heart is basically sound.他的心脏基本上健康。
• Basically I agree with your plan.我基本上同意你的计划。

2 citation   

n.引用，引证，引用文；传票

参考例句：

• He had to sign the proposition for the citation.他只好在受奖申请书上签了字。
• The court could issue a citation and fine Ms. Robbins.法庭可能会发传票，对罗宾斯女士处以罚款。

3 warrant   

n.正当理由，根据，委任状，准许；vt.保证，辩解，担保，授权

参考例句：

• I will warrant him an honest and reliable fellow.我可以保证他是一个诚实可靠的人。
• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。

4 petition   

n.请愿书，申请书，诉状；v.请愿，正式请求

参考例句：

• Thousands of citizens subscribed the petition.几千名公民在请愿书上签名。
• The number of signers of the petition for a new school snowballed.要求增设新学校而签名的人像滚雪球似的越来越多。

5 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

6 vacant   

adj.未被占用的，空着的；空缺的

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• He stared into space with a vacant expression.他茫然地凝视着天空。

7 hell   

n.地狱，阴间；用以咒骂或表示愤怒，不满

参考例句：

• It's a hell of a hike from Sydney to Perth.从悉尼到珀斯的徒步旅行简直苦死了。
• The boss really gave me hell today.老板今天着实数落了我一通。