A common refrain among food system activists is that we wish more people would care about food, that just taking the time to consider food on a semi-daily basis would be a huge step forward in improving the health and well-being of our country. I agree with this statement, and I use it often. I also know it’s only true to a point.

It’s easy to care about something you feel a deep-rooted connection to. It’s hard to care deeply about multiple projects, and harder still to care about something because someone else says you should. I want food to be more present on people’s minds, but I’m also glad that some people care about other things, like veterans’ affairs, and adoption services, and human trafficking, and elderly care, and animal welfare, and A/C maintenance, and landscaping, and sewer lines, and rock climbing, and cooking, and cars, and comic books. It’s all the things, everything together, that makes life beautifully, vibrantly diverse. I’m glad other people are contributing to other causes. I’m glad they do their work so those things can be there while I work on mine.

I work on food systems because I find them both fascinating and woefully inadequate. I’m happy to do this work so that others don’t have to. I still wish more people cared more about food. But I get that not everyone does or should spend their lives studying this particular area of issues. Thank you to everyone dedicated to something, whatever it is.