Getting off a long plane ride with two young children and getting into a taxi with a flat tire is not the best start to a vacation.
This situation reminded Ben Earle, CEO of Feed the Need in Durham (FTND), that although people have disagreements and fights, we’re all the same.
“Even though we barely spoke the same language, we were able to take care of each other and make a connection,” Earle said with a smile.
Looking at the big picture and realizing there is more to a situation than what is first perceived is how Ben Earle sees the world.
Earle recently got back from his trip to Athens, and as someone who has grown up in Bowmanville, and worked in Durham Region for over 20 years, travelling prompts reflection.
“In order to do the work that I really want to do, I’ve had to learn how to be reflective,” said Earle, who has been working with Feed the Need for around twenty years.
As a dad, husband, CEO, traveller, reader and most importantly, deep thinker with a degree in anthropology, Earle has learned about the importance of reflection.
In his office, books and LEGO fill two cabinets along with family pictures. Leaning against the wall he has his degree papers. These items reflect his life: family, knowledge and play, all of which inform his work.
Melanie Correia, the Director of Development and Communications at Feed the Need.
“We are providing people with a service, but we aren’t the solution,” said Correia, who looks up to Earle’s integrity. “Ben fights for the solution which is systemic change.”
In the last two decades, food insecurity in the region has ballooned. According to the Region of Durham, one in four households does not have enough income to buy food.
Canadians waste more than 50 million tonnes of food annually, according to Statistics Canada. Food Banks Canada reports that the usage of food banks is at an all-time high.
Feed the Need is the largest food charity in Durham and leads a network of over 70 programs across 50 organizations.
Full-time Durham College students have access to food and hygiene products because of The Support Hub’s partnership with Feed the Need.
Earle is working hard with Feed the Need to reduce the number of people experiencing food insecurity in Durham Region.
When Earle was in university at McMaster in the early 2000s, he had a habit of not writing an essay until the day or two before the due date, he admits with a smirk.
“I wasn’t starting from zero even if I hadn’t physically put anything on paper,” he explained.
That wasn’t because he was ignoring it altogether, but he was putting the pieces together like LEGO in his mind, which is what he does to ensure Feed the Need runs smoothly.
His career has been focused on critical issues such as poverty, food insecurity and housing, which are all prevalent issues in Canada.
These critical issues are informed even more by his children and family. The building blocks of his career include not only knowledge about these topics but also being a good dad.
As parents, Earle said he and his wife try to expose their kids to the world around them and be open to big conversations.
In Athens last week, he picked up a book called The Flaw by Antonis Samarakis, a Greek author.
“Whenever I travel, I like to find books by local authors,” he said.
The historical aspect of Greece was fitting for an anthropology major and his wife, a classical studies major.
“Getting to expose ourselves and our kids to foundational human history is really important,” Earle said.
Earle hasn’t always known where his path would take him but he has been a natural-born leader since childhood and going to McMaster for medical school seemed right, but after two years into the program he realized his passion for his first-year anthropology course was taking him in another direction.
He listened to his intuition and it led him to non-profit organizations.
“You never know where the opportunities are going to come from, and what you do with these opportunities is what matters,” Earle said.
Seizing new opportunities, letting your intuition guide you and making mistakes is an important part of development.
One of his mentors, helped him understand that “how you respond to the mistakes is what matters, not the mistake.”
It’s about how you build the world around you and the world Earle is building is one with food for everyone.