Sam Polk is executive director and founder of Groceryships, as well as a recovering pancake addict and a former Wall Street trader.
Groceryships provides scholarship funds to low-income families struggling with obesity, diabetes or other food-related health issues. These scholarships allow families to purchase a six-month supply of fruits, vegetables, beans and seeds. Groceryships supports this with a comprehensive program of education and support to empower these families to increase their health by incorporating more of these healthful foods into their diets.
What’s the change you’re trying to make in the world?
I’m working to bring those on the margins into the fold. To move beyond "us" and "them," to just "us." And I'm also trying to offer a solution to people struggling with obesity who want to get healthy.
What’s Groceryships doing that’s a game changer?
We have an entirely new program that stems from a new way of thinking. We are looking at obesity not as a technical issue (change the food system, eradicate the food desert), but as an adaptive issue with several moving parts. That's why, while we offer nutrition education, that's only the beginning. There are cooking skills, budget management, shopping strategies, recipes, and most important, group support. Never underestimate the power of social networks, and the ability for a group of people to overcome a problem that a lonely individual wouldn't have a prayer at handling.
You wrote a provocative op-ed piece for the New York Times called “For the Love of Money,” about the arc of your career from Wall Street trader to social entrepreneur. What was the response like?
Huge media interest for one, especially international—from Norway, Korea, Vietnam, China, Russia, Germany, France, and the UK. People are fascinated with Wall Street, and also someone who decides to walk away from millions.
How about reader response?
More importantly, I've gotten hundreds, if not thousands, of letters from college kids, and it's made clear one thing to me. The psychic pain that so many people feel every day that comes from their desire to be rich, is just huge. Epic. It's like people are like, "I know money doesn't make you happy, but I think I'm different—it'll make me happy."
What’s the biggest change you’ve made in your personal life?
I've stopped competing against people, at least most days. Now I'm just trying to be the best Sam Polk I can be, whatever that is.
Change is hard—do you have any tricks you’d like to share for making it easier?
I try to remember how certain I've been about things, only to realize 2-3 years later how off base I was. At this point, I understand how beneficial change can be, as it moves me closer to wisdom. I guess my trick is not to identify too dearly with what I believe, because I know it'll be evolving.
If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?
How we throw people away, in prisons and in poverty. How we try to incarcerate and shame our way out of problems, rather than supporting people, investing in them, bringing them into the fold.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
The part of me that still craves recognition, achievement, more money. I fight that part of me every single day.
What’s the best thing about your current job?
That at 8 pm on Wednesday nights, after our 2-hour Groceryships meetings, I am sure that I have been in the exact right place in the world.
Do you volunteer?
I speak in jails sometimes to kids about getting sober and living a life of integrity. And, in truth, all my work for Groceryships is volunteer. It's a full-time job that I haven't earned a dime in, and in fact have put a lot of money into.
What are you reading right now?
A book called Happier at Home by Gretchen Reynolds and re-reading Father Greg Boyle'sTattoos on the Heart.
Listening to?
Elizabeth Warren's audiobook, A Fighting Chance.
Watching?
Game of Thrones, which has gotten too rapey.
Who inspires you?
Father Greg Boyle of Homeboy Industries. He's spent his life making people laugh, cry, and returning people to themselves. The number of lives he's changed personally is staggering. I don't know anyone whose had a more impactful life.
Favorite color?
Green, of course.
Rock, paper, or scissors?
Rock. Power.
Who are you following online?
Larry Lessig, and I'm rooting for the Super PAC to end all Super PACS
Who’s the most progressive nonprofit or business leader you know?
Again, I return to Father Greg Boyle, who preaches radical compassion. It's not about right or left, it's about remembering that we belong to each other. Or, as he says it, it's about achieving a compassion that stands in awe of the burden the poor have to carry, rather than in judgment of how they carry it.
What’s one question you’d like to ask yourself—and answer?
What is my purpose? I keep getting closer to figuring that out. Right now my two big words are "equality" and "reciprocity."
Learn more about people and organizations mentioned in this article: Father Greg Boyle,Homeboy Industries, Larry Lessig.