BLOG 4 OF 6: How We Were Taught to Believe There Isn’t Enough

What if I told you that some of the organizations receiving public funding to fight poverty could also be making it harder for independent businesses to survive?

And what if the businesses we’re losing are precisely the ones capable of creating the economic independence we’ve spent billions trying to achieve?

Imagine opening a small food business. You pay your rent, wages, insurance, utilities, transportation and inventory costs. Every dollar has to be earned from customers choosing to support you.

Now imagine competing against an organization selling similar products while receiving government grants, subsidized facilities, charitable donations or publicly funded staff.

Both can generate revenue. Both can compete for customers.

But one may have a significant financial advantage funded, in part, by the very taxpayers supporting both.

How exactly is that fair competition?

I’m not suggesting every nonprofit operates this way. I’m asking why we aren’t having a much bigger conversation about the ones that do.

Because perhaps the greatest lie we’ve been sold isn’t simply that there isn’t enough.

It’s that we need an ever-growing system of institutions to manage the lack.

And the more dependent we become, the more money the system needs to keep rescuing us.

THE BUSINESS OF LACK

Every morning, millions of us wake up, reach for our phones and invite the fears of the entire world into our minds.

War. Poverty. Hunger. Economic collapse. Political division. Another crisis. Another warning.

Before we’ve even had our coffee, we’ve energetically aligned ourselves with the belief that something is terribly wrong.

Not enough food. Not enough money. Not enough housing. Not enough resources. Not enough opportunity.

And apparently, not enough government funding to fix any of it.

Lack is a perspective. Abundance is a reality we’ve forgotten how to recognize.

I believe God created an abundant world. Seeds multiply. Animals reproduce. The earth produces food. Knowledge can be shared. Communities can cooperate.

Human beings have an extraordinary ability to create solutions when they stop waiting for permission.

Yet somehow, we’ve built an economy that increasingly teaches people to look outside themselves for the answers.

And the rescue industry is enormous.

FOLLOW THE MONEY

For thirteen years, I’ve watched governments announce programs, distribute funding, create organizations and promise to strengthen our food systems.

From Kathleen Wynne’s Ontario government to Doug Ford’s government, and now Mark Carney’s federal government, the announcements keep coming.

And before anyone turns this into a political argument, I don’t care who you voted for or which politician you think is better. There are serious problems at every level of government that need to be addressed, regardless of who’s in power.

This past June, the federal government announced its National Food Security Strategy, backed by more than $3 billion in investments over ten years.

Included were $1 billion for food terminals and hubs, a separate $1 billion agri-food financing fund, $750 million for year-round fruit and vegetable production and $150 million for food security equipment and infrastructure.

More infrastructure. More programs. More money.

And my question remains the same.

After all these years of spending, why are we still talking about food insecurity as though nobody has figured out how to move food from a farmer to a family?

These investments could genuinely improve competition and help independent producers. I hope they do. But will they? That's a whole other question.

Announcements are not outcomes.

I want measurable results.

Who owns the infrastructure? Who controls distribution? Can small farmers actually access it? Will independent businesses become stronger? And what happens when the funding ends?

Because food sovereignty means very little if the people producing and consuming food have no meaningful control over the system connecting them.

NOT-FOR-PROFIT DOES NOT MEAN NO PROFIT

Here’s something many Canadians may not realize.

On October 19, 2021, Ontario’s Not-for-Profit Corporations Act came into force, clarifying that nonprofit corporations can earn profits through commercial activities, provided those profits support their nonprofit purposes.

Nonprofits could earn revenue before this legislation. But the distinction matters.

Not-for-profit does not mean an organization cannot operate commercially.

And here’s where I have a serious problem.

We’re not just talking about the potential misuse of public funding.

We’re talking about the possibility of publicly funded organizations competing against independent businesses that must survive without comparable financial advantages.

And then there’s the corporate side of charitable giving. Businesses can donate to registered charities, including qualifying food banks, receive official donation receipts and claim eligible contributions as tax deductions. Meanwhile, independent food businesses competing in the same communities may receive no comparable financial support.

I’m not suggesting charitable giving is corrupt. I’m questioning a system where corporations can receive tax advantages for funding food "relief" while the independent businesses capable of strengthening our food economy are left struggling to survive. Are we rewarding the management of food insecurity more than we’re rewarding the creation of food security?

When grants or subsidies cover expenses that a private business must recover through sales, competition can become distorted.

And when that business closes, what have we accomplished?

We’ve lost an entrepreneur. An employer. A taxpayer. Another source of economic independence.

The nonprofit may be doing genuinely good work. But that doesn’t mean we should ignore the economic consequences of how it is funded.

What if the money intended to strengthen communities is sometimes making it harder for independent businesses to survive?

What if we’re spending public money managing economic hardship while weakening some of the businesses capable of creating lasting economic opportunity?

And then congratulating ourselves for helping.

A food bank can feed someone today.

But an economy that allows that person to feed themselves tomorrow is something entirely different.

I believe we’ve spent far too much time perfecting the first while neglecting the second.

DEPENDENCE IS NOT SECURITY

I’m fundamentally opposed to the idea that universal basic income is the answer to our economic problems.

Giving people money doesn’t automatically give them the ability to produce what they need.

Imagine a major cyberattack disrupting banking, communications and food distribution.

When the lights come back on, what happens if communities have lost the knowledge, infrastructure and relationships required to feed themselves?

Money cannot purchase food that isn’t available.

A government payment cannot replace a farmer.

And a centralized distribution system, no matter how sophisticated, is not the same thing as a resilient community.

I’m not predicting a cyberattack. I’m questioning why we continue building systems that leave so many people dependent on their uninterrupted operation.

We have become so disconnected from the source of our survival that we now call dependence convenience.

Look at how much highly processed food is marketed as nourishment. Look at the distance between the farmer and the family. Look at how few corporations control so much of what reaches our grocery shelves.

And then ask yourself how much independence we actually have.

THE WAY FORWARD IS NOT ANOTHER RESCUE

I know wonderful people working in nonprofits and food banks. Many are making an extraordinary difference, and emergency assistance will always have an important place.

But what if we started measuring success differently?

What if, instead of measuring compassion by how much charity we distribute, we measured success by how many people no longer need it?

What if we invested more directly in farmers, small processors, independent food hubs, community markets and the people creating productive opportunities?

What if we organized our communities around producing, trading, teaching, growing and supporting one another?

That doesn’t require everyone to become a farmer.

It requires us to remember that we’re participants in an economy, not merely consumers of one.

This is the thinking behind Small Scale Farms, Friendly Neighbours and the larger vision of Reborn Collective - to me it's AN ECONOMY OF OUR OWN.

An economy built on relationships, respnsibility, productivity, knowledge and the abundance that already exists around us.

I’ve spent thirteen years working toward this because I believe the solutions are much closer than we’re being led to believe.

And perhaps that’s the massive lie we’ve been living under.

That there isn’t enough.

That we need someone else to save us.

That solutions must come from somewhere above us, funded by someone else and managed by another institution.

Meanwhile, the soil is still producing. Seeds are still multiplying. People are still capable of extraordinary things.

Maybe the problem isn’t that there isn’t enough. Maybe it’s that we’ve been taught to look everywhere except where the abundance actually is.

1. Government of Canada, National Food Security Strategy, June 11, 2026. More than $3 billion in planned investments, including food infrastructure, financing, equipment and year-round production.

1. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Food-Link Fund. Launched October 5, 2026, with applications opening October 14.

1. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Food Hub Program. Funding objectives, eligible infrastructure and cost-sharing requirements.

1. Government of Ontario, Rules for Not-for-Profit and Charitable Corporations. Confirms the October 19, 2021 implementation of ONCA and commercial profit rules.

1. Government of Ontario, Guide to the Not-for-Profit Corporations Act. Explains how nonprofits may conduct commercial activities and reinvest profits.

1. Government of Ontario, Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 2010.