I work for a company that believes blogs are an important tool in telling our customers and friends what we do, what we stand for, and what we believe in. Never having written a blog before, I volunteered to do my part and write one. How hard could it be? The topic they gave me was Food Insecurity in Canada.

Uh Oh.

I’m a 57 year old man who was born and raised in a large city in Canada. What in the world do I know about food insecurity? Not liking what Mom made for dinner is not food insecurity. Opening a fridge door and saying “there’s nothing to eat (when the fridge is full)” is not food insecurity. I did not grow up poor (or rich, for that matter), and there was always food on the table even if it was food I didn’t like.

So I started by researching as much as I could to learn about this topic and with every blog I read, every advocacy website I visited, and every person involved in addressing this problem that I talked to I became more and more appalled.

So what can I do? What can anyone do?

In my case I joined Nutritower. Yes, it’s a business, but that’s not why I signed up. I wanted to be surrounded by people, most of them half my age, who truly and profoundly believe they can change the world. I thrive on their passion and am humbled by their lofty goals. I sign petitions. I’m learning where political candidates in my riding stand on the issue and I vote for them. I “share” messages from advocacy groups on Facebook. I “like” their initiatives. We go to schools and educate children. I’m growing my own food which I’ll happily give away.