Shape Your Own Food System...And Watch What Happens
Have our instincts been hijacked? What does it take to break free?
Most people I’ve worked with over the last two decades have had the same problem. And it’s not laziness, ignorance, or lack of willpower. It’s the food system.
It’s the grip of products engineered to override your instincts. The endless feed of sugar, chemicals, and distraction, sold as nourishment. A system that rewards addiction, punishes simplicity, and breaks even the most disciplined among us. In over twenty years of working one-on-one with clients, I can count on two hands the number who could truly escape its hold. And not for lack of trying.
We’ve been tricked into thinking this is normal. That struggle is personal failure. That organic crackers count as health. That boxed mac and cheese is a charitable gift.
But real change, and true transformation, starts when you see the whole thing for what it is. When you peel back the illusion of choice and start recognizing the system that shaped it.
And then we remember.
We remember what food looked like before it was packaged.
We remember that seasons used to matter.
We remember the people who grow food, not just the stores that sell it.
We remember that healing doesn’t come in a bottle but from soil, movement, and community.
This work is deeply personal for me. Not because I read it in a book, but because I’ve lived it. I’ve been ripped apart by trauma and rebuilt from scratch more than once. The path that brought me here wasn’t linear, but it was honest.
Today, I lead Real Food CT, a nonprofit connecting small farms to food pantries across Connecticut. We’re on pace to deliver over 100,000 pounds of fresh, local produce this year. But this isn’t about numbers. It’s about building something regenerative from the ground up that reflects what I truly believe in.
This series is for people who are ready to see clearly. To reclaim their body. To feed their community in a new way. It’s for those who know we’re not going to fix public health with pharmaceutical ads or end food insecurity with shelf-stable donations. It’s for the ones who are done being tricked and ready to grow something real.
Subscribe, share, or just sit with it. We’re just getting started.
