This month I want to do something different. I’ll share something, and I want your feedback – let’s have a conversation!
A few weeks ago I was with friends at the Lake House and we were talking about the Wrench Foundation, soon to be officially launched. (Wrench Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation by building farms, creating jobs and delivering clean food”).
The first question I got: Why are you doing this?
At first I found it difficult to answer. But then on reflection, it came to me. You see today I’m at a point where I can say “I have enough for me”. Meaning, I’ve made enough money. My family is taken care of. My company is self-sustaining and growing above the industry average. Everybody gets their salaries on time and can grow with the company. These are the things I care about. And since I don’t have to work full time for myself any more I can now spend a portion of my time for humanity. That’s the why in a nutshell.
I realise not everyone will understand this stance; after all we live in a world where people are always pushing for more – more success, more growth, more everything. But I am not one of those people. Now I have enough, I can do use my problem-solving skills to help humanity.
For the past 5 years I had been anyway trying to solve the problem of sustainable food production, first with vegetables then with protein ie fish, we set up a farm, we even started selling the produce. But then came AI. I could see around me a tremendous fear and worry about losing jobs to AI. So I thought: why not replicate the farm on a big scale? That way we can create recession-proof jobs – assured income long-term jobs – for educated people worried about losing jobs to AI and at the same time address malnutrition and adulteration. So that became the gameplan. Produce clean food. Create skilled jobs. Build resilient communities.
The next question was: ‘but why food?’
Because: people will always need food. There has in any case been a growing demand for clean high-quality protein, and most of us know by now that our produce is heavily sprayed with chemicals that create serious health problems. My farm addresses all this at the root.
To sum up, I’m not doing it for money or publicity, or even because it gives me a sense of purpose. I’m doing it because I have enough, and I want everyone else to have enough too.
Now it’s your turn. What is your idea of ‘enough’? What will you do when you get it?