Summary
Eating is framed as an agricultural act, emphasizing its connection to care, compassion, and community. The speaker reflects on their culinary journey, beginning with a formative experience making pizza in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and evolving into the establishment of over a dozen food-related businesses. This journey includes a diverse range of ventures, from sushi and fine dining to a butcher shop and farms, all built alongside dedicated teams.
A pivotal moment occurs when the speaker takes over a century-old butcher shop in Vancouver's downtown east side, an area marked by socioeconomic challenges. This experience reshapes their understanding of food as a means of connection and belonging. The initiative introduces a $5 token system, allowing community members to buy meals for one another, resulting in over 100,000 meals served and fostering interactions between people from different backgrounds. The speaker expresses pride in the impact of their work, which has included teaching at Stanford and cooking for Pope Francis.
Looking ahead, the speaker aims to reframe discussions about food access and the underlying systems that dictate who eats and who does not. With a hopeful outlook, they plan to demystify these systems and empower listeners to understand and improve them, drawing on over 30 years of experience in the food industry.
Show Notes
Where is this season going? Into the systems that shape how food gets grown, made, shared, and accessed, and toward the possibility of making them work better for everyone. We are setting out to demystify the food system: how it works, who it serves, who gets left out, and how people can help change it. Drawing on decades of experience in restaurants, farms, and community food programs, he’ll make big ideas around food access, agriculture, and food justice clearer, more practical, and easier to act on. Because the systems we live with were built by people, and people can build them better. This season is a guide to understanding what’s possible when we work together to make good food and care more accessible to all. East Coast Credit Union is proud to support Better because we believe meaningful change starts with asking the right questions and challenging the way things have always been done. As Mark Brand explores the systems that shape our lives and meets the people working to improve them, we see a natural connection to our own purpose: using banking as a force for good to improve financial wellbeing, strengthen communities and help people thrive. When our members and communities thrive, we all do. Learn more about how East Coast Credit Union is challenging the status quo of traditional banking and showing how business and banking can be a force for good: eastcoastcu.ca
More from BETTER presents: Make Food Food Again
In Season 4, Make Food Food Again, Mark takes a deeper look at the systems that determine how we feed ourselves, who benefits, who gets left behind, and what needs to change. Through powerful human stories, investigative documentaries, and accessible explainers, BETTER explores the connections between food, health, labour, land, power, and dignity. From food banks and grocery giants to the people growing, preparing, and relying on our food, Mark asks difficult questions, challenges familiar narratives, and explores practical solutions. Because building a better world starts with understanding the one we've created. East Coast Credit Union is proud to support Better because we believe meaningful change starts with asking the right questions and challenging the way things have always been done. As Mark Brand explores the systems that shape our lives and meets the people working to improve them, we see a natural connection to our own purpose: using banking as a force for good to improve financial wellbeing, strengthen communities and help people thrive. When our members and communities thrive, we all do. Learn more about how East Coast Credit Union is challenging the status quo of traditional banking and showing how business and banking can be a force for good: eastcoastcu.ca
In this episode of Better, host Mark Brand sits down with Nova Scotian diver and content creator Sean “Saltwater Sean” McMullen for a deeply honest conversation about curiosity, healing, and finding purpose beneath the waves. Sean shares how boredom during COVID, a wetsuit from Marketplace, and a couple of vintage soda bottles led to a viral photo, national media attention, and the birth of the Saltwater Sean platform. Along the way, he opens up about sobriety, divorce, tinnitus and hearing loss, childhood bullying, and how diving, magnet fishing, and cleaning up local waterways became a way to reconnect with his inner child, his parents, his kids, and his community. This is a story about environmental action, mental health, and the power of simply doing your own “weird thing” so others feel brave enough to do theirs.
Social impact entrepreneur Mark Brand and Producer Madison Irvine unpack their conversation with ocean cleanup creator Sean “Saltwater Sean” McMullen. From diving Nova Scotia’s rivers, lakes, and coastline for trash to becoming an unlikely online creator, Sean’s story opens up a bigger conversation about authenticity, community, local arts, and playing the long game with your craft. This Season 3 finale also celebrates Nova Scotian identity, neighborhood kindness in Halifax, and the importance of supporting local art, podcasts, and emerging storytellers.
Actor, director, gamer, and entrepreneur Matthew Lillard has been a cult favorite for decades—from Scream and Hackers to Scooby-Doo and Five Nights at Freddy’s. But behind the characters is a story of failure, reinvention, and radical authenticity. In this conversation with Mark Brand, Matthew opens up about: Growing up as an outsider: obese kid, learning disabilities, drama nerd in the 80s The moment he turned down Dancing With the Stars, fired his team, sold his house, and rebuilt his life and career How The Descendants “reintroduced” him to Hollywood as a man, not just the funny kid Building Beadle & Grimm’s and Find Familiar Spirits, brands that serve fandoms instead of chasing the mainstream Why helping friends win feels better than his own success How he uses his celebrity as a tool for impact, not ego Turning pain, insecurity, and “outsider” energy into art, business, and community This episode is a love letter to nerds, misfits, and late bloomers, and a masterclass in showing up as your whole self, even when it’s messy.
Coming soon! Matt Lillard! Actor, director, gamer, and entrepreneur Matthew Lillard has been a cult favorite for decades, from Scream and Hackers to Scooby-Doo and Five Nights at Freddy’s. But behind the characters is a story of failure, reinvention, and radical authenticity.