February 15, 2012

Sometimes it feels as if the world we grew up knowing has been thrown into a cuisinart and spun into something new.  And in some ways, it has.  With innovation and technology providing all kinds of never-before-seen solutions, this progress has been both awe-inducing and stomach-churning.  

Pick your headline and decide for yourself which way you want to go: from technology that enables us to connect with each other in ways never imagined to agrichemical ingredients being fed to the animals we eat, innovation is driving rapid change, as seen in these recent headlines:

• Last week Apple customers visited stores on four continents to deliver 250,000 petition signatures demanding better working conditions at factories making iPads and iPhones. (The delivery made news on CNN).  Just this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced immediate factory inspections, showing that the pressure is working
• McDonald’s responded to the 100,000 people (and groups like the Humane Society of the United States) who told the fast food giant to stop sourcing pork from factory farms using inhumane “gestation crates,” (cages so small that pigs can’t move or turn around).McDonald’s told all of its suppliers yesterday to start phasing out the cages — an earthquake for the food industry.

And as this change continues to happen, often at warp-speed, it is important to lend your voice.  If you don’t think that one person matters, think again.  One person can make an enormous difference.  You can affect the change you want to see.  So start where you stand, with what you have, where you are.  Leverage the unique skills and talents that you possess with something that you are passionate about and create the change you want to see in this world of ours.  We’ve only got one shot at this, so be brave, be kind and be the change.