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I made my calls to Triple A and my garage, and then sat there thinking about a guy named John Slaiger, who was a pastor (now-retired) who lived and worked in South Providence. My wife and I used to (yes, a long time ago) bring groups of Brown students for immersion experiences in South Providence.  We’d sleep in the basement of John’s church and participate in various soup kitchens and building projects during the day.In the evenings we’d play cards and talk about what we were learning and John would always find a scrap of paper and teach us his “8-cylinder model” for understanding poverty.

It’s always a big deal when a new employee starts.For me it’s a refreshing reminder of the importance and practicality of our mission.For him—well, it’s his first job in America, which is a bigger deal than most of us can imagine.I have no doubt he’ll show up, map or not.He’ll probably be a couple hours early.And for the rest of our staff, particularly our manager, who needs to train and guide him without any shared language or expectations in common, it’s a challenge.One that, as a refugee herself, she is amazingly good at.

I haven’t heard of a code of ethics for social entrepreneurs, but if there was one, a first simple tenet could be that marketing based on human suffering needs to genuinely benefit the people suffering.

Ingredients: Oats (org), Spanish peanuts, honey (pesticide-free from Aquidneckhoney), cranberries (cranberries, sugar, safflower oil), quinoa (org, tri-color), canola oil (org), granulated cane juice, coconut (org), sesame seeds (org), raisins, Virginia peanuts, oat bran (org), almonds, sunflower seeds (org), grape molasses, flax seeds (org), oat fiber, sea salt, peanut oil, cinnamon, almond extract, vanilla, chili powder, nutmeg.

A few thoughts: Granola is not Brussels sprouts, and the truth is, our granola is high in calories. While it’s an exceptionally healthy alternative to potato chips or tiramisu, it shouldn’t replace Brussel sprouts (or tiramisu either, in my opinion). 
 

One thing I love about the kitchen is that cooking involves reality.To cook well, you’ve got to respect and understand your ingredients and it’s good for the soul to live in reality rather than some fantasy world where there’s no pain and always a happy ending.Ingredients are like that. Making food taste good is an exercise in reality.