How can you change the world?

22 Apr How can you change the world?

It’s tempting to blame others for all the pain in the world right now. But, as we’re seeing, blame only takes us so far.

We’re learning that we can either devote our precious energy to casting blame, or we can take this opportunity to start over.

When I started Beyond Green Partners, I felt betrayed by the systems that were supposed to protect our health. Perhaps you know the feeling.

I was so dissatisfied with the current state of our food system and frustrated by what we, as a society, took for granted. Our food was — and still is — disconnected from our world as a whole: how it gets to us, who grew it, what is even in it.

Instead of staying angry, instead of blaming — I reimagined what school lunches could be. And I started Beyond Green Partners, a company that helps schools, hospitals and other institutions across the country regularly serve locally grown, healthy, scratch-cooked food. Basically, I reinvented my business.

We’ve all been through some version of this. At one time or another, tough times have forced each of us to create something new, something better.

More than anything, our work is about benefiting the greater good. I’m not just talking about nutrition; I’m talking about rescuing our environment, improving human wellbeing and boosting local, economic vitality. Changing food systems as a whole, that’s the foundation of what we do.

This pandemic has revealed to us that businesses-as-usual just isn’t going to work anymore. It has shown us that the only way forward involves questioning everything, and potentially blowing it all up and starting over again. It’s illustrated that all of us — not just a few — need to focus on the greater good to benefit everyone.

We are seeing what is and isn’t working in real-time, both in our individual lives and at the societal level.  We are seeing how our health is holistic — mind, body and spirit. We are seeing how our food choices impact nature, our communities and the economy, and how we can choose to — or not to — nurture it.

Of course, we all have varying opinions about how to move forward. So long as we consider how to move forward as a whole, we’re on the right track.

So, instead of pointing fingers, I challenge you to ask yourself — and this goes for whatever you’re dealing with: What’s not working? And how can I change it?

Instead of looking out into the world and asking the world to change for you, how can you change for the world?