Food Secure Nation

Do We Believe Enough? The Next Threshold of Food Security What if the next breakthrough in food security isn’t about what we’re missing, but about connecting what we already have? In this special edition of Food Secure Nation, Dr. Phil Knight and Gerry Brisson challenge traditional narratives about hunger, celebrate the resilience of people experiencing food insecurity, and explore the extraordina...

In Part Two of our conversation with Feeding America CEO Denis McDonough, we turn from the leader to the work—and his conviction that hunger in America is a problem we can solve\. Denis talks about putting neighbors at the center, shortening the line rather than simply feeding it, measuring what works, and bringing urgency to a challenge that millions of families face today\. His message is clear:...

Leading an organization that serves more than a million people a month requires keeping individual people in view. Michael Flood, President and CEO of the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, brings that perspective to Food Secure Nation: “I’m serving you today, but I could be in line, you know, next week.” Our conversation explores the leadership behind the numbers: building strong teams, investing in...

What happens when the uniform comes off—but the mission doesn’t stop? After 23 years in the U.S. Army, Nate Springer took just five days off before beginning a new chapter of service as President and CEO of Care and Share Food Bank for Southern Colorado. Nate joins Dr. Phil Knight and Gerry Brisson for a powerful conversation about purpose, leadership, trust, and the realities of hunger in America...

What if the food is there—and food security still isn’t? We tend to think of “senior hunger” as a straightforward problem: someone needs food, we provide food. But aging can change the equation. Researchers Drs Colleen Heflin and Madonna Harrington Meyer have authored a book entitled, Food for Thought, Understaning Older Adult Food Insecurity and it’s insights help us understand more so we can do...

After a lifetime of public service, Denis McDonough had choices. He chose hunger. In this deeply personal conversation, Feeding America’s new CEO shares how family, faith, service and a belief in the dignity of every person led him to the fight for a food-secure nation. And I would not change the Show 1 monologue or FFT much at all. After hearing the actual conversation, they hold up exceptionally...

The Other Side of the Aisle We hear a lot about crossing the aisle these days. But Heather Paquette crossed a different one — the grocery aisle. After 24 years in grocery retail, Heather became President of Good Shepherd Food Bank of Maine, bringing lessons in operations, innovation and execution into a world where success is measured very differently. Heather joins Dr. Phil Knight and Gerry Briss...

Hunger is actually a solvable problem.” After 27 years at the Food Research & Action Center, Crystal FitzSimons now leads FRAC into the next chapter of its more than 50-year story. She joins Dr. Phil Knight and Gerry Brisson to talk about the values that shaped her, the research and policies that can change lives, dignity, political will—and why one of the best things we can do for children is mak...

Matt Habash has spent more than four decades challenging one of the biggest assumptions in hunger relief: that success is measured by how much food we distribute. Under his leadership, the Mid-Ohio Food Collective became one of the most innovative organizations in the Feeding America network—using data, healthcare, technology, public policy and community partnerships to better understand not just...

What if the real work of fighting hunger isn’t simply filling empty bellies — but helping people build a future? Cyndi Kirkhart, CEO of Facing Hunger Food Bank, takes us down the country roads of Appalachia, where resilience runs deep and every plate has a story. From a seven-year-old boy turning ketchup packets into tomato soup for his little brother to a food bank determined to reach people acro...

In communities where everybody knows your name, asking for help can be one of the hardest things a person ever does. Lori Dykstra, CEO of Feeding South Dakota, shares how lived experience, rural leadership, and a deep commitment to dignity are shaping a new conversation about hunger, humility, and what it truly means to care for our neighbors.

What if we’ve been looking at food insecurity through only one lens? Dr. Christopher Harris joins Food Secure Nation to explore how Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and the Person-in-Environment framework complement one another. Rather than choosing between personal responsibility and systemic change, this conversation challenges us to see both—and to ask better questions that lead to stronger, more la...

How does America really think about food security? Join Dr. Phil Knight and Gerry Brisson as they welcome Feeding America Chief Government Relations Officer Rebeckah Freeman Adcock for a candid conversation about leadership, public policy, and the partnerships required to build a food-secure nation. This is a rare look behind the curtain at one of the most important conversations shaping America’s...

About This Episode After more than a decade of hosting Food for Thought and Food First Michigan, Dr. Phil Knight and Gerry Brisson reflect on why they joined with Ryan Hoyle to launch No Better Do Better (KBDB), LLC and expand the conversation nationally through Food Secure Nation. Drawing on more than 80 years of combined leadership experience, they explore why creating a food-secure nation requi...

As Dr. Dawn Opel begins a new chapter in her career, Food Secure Nation reflects on six and a half years of partnership, innovation, and leadership. Through the lens of Better Together, Dr. Phil Knight, Gerry Brisson, and Dr. Opel explore how influence, insight, innovation, and integrity create stronger teams, better solutions, and lasting impact. It’s a conversation about gratitude, leadership, a...

What happens when success is no longer enough? Retiring Freestore Foodbank CEO Kurt Reiber joins Dr. Phil Knight and Gerry Brisson to discuss leadership, legacy, and his journey from banking and law to nonprofit leadership. The episode also introduces Veera, Food Secure Nation's new AI Research Analyst, who explores research on the growing movement of business leaders pursuing purpose-driven caree...

Triada Stampas is a systems thinker who has high policy intelligence along with a strong desire to learn and that makes her a perfect candidate to help lead this work to the next threshold of food security.

Food Security, Leadership, Success, Significance, 2nd Career - Purpose

In this episode of Food Secure Nation, we sit down with Brian McGrain of Michigan Community Action to explore what it takes to move from disconnected efforts to coordinated solutions. Families don’t experience our systems—they experience whether life works. Real impact happens when organizations align their strengths, navigate the gaps, and work together to meet real-life needs.

In this episode of Food Secure Nation, Phil Knight and Gerry Brisson welcome Jason Jakubowski, president and CEO of Connecticut Foodshare, for a conversation about leadership, trust, and the power of doing hard things well. Jason shares the story behind merging two legacy food banks into one unified statewide organization—an effort that strengthened efficiency, amplified impact, and created a sing...

Leadership isn’t just about getting it right—it’s about how you show up when it matters most. In this episode of Food Secure Nation, Dan Flowers—CEO of the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank and one of the most respected voices in the Feeding America network—joins Phil Knight and Gerry Brisson for a candid, deeply human conversation about what it really takes to lead. With nearly three decades in the...

Behind every meal served is a system most people never see. In this episode, Liz Lowe shares her journey from growing up in a food-insecure household to helping organizations across the country build sustainable funding strategies. Alongside Phil and Gerry Brisson, she explores how funding, relationships, and lived experience come together to shape what’s possible in the fight for food security.

This episode goes beyond inspiration and gets to the real challenge at the heart of food security: not a lack of caring, not a lack of ideas, but a lack of connection. Dr. Phil Knight and Gerry Brisson reflect on decades of experience to unpack why so much good work struggles to scale, and why better frameworks, shared learning, and the Six Dimensions of Food Security may be the key to moving from...

About This Episode Food security gets real when you stop talking about programs and start looking at systems. In this episode, Joree Novotny and Mandy Pullaro break down the six dimensions of food security from a statewide lens—where every decision carries tradeoffs between resources, dignity, and results. What happens when agency becomes the difference-maker? When emergency response turns into ev...

Everyone sees the front lines of hunger relief—but who’s aligning the system behind it? In this episode, Joree Novotny and Mandy Pullaro share how state associations in the Feeding America network quietly connect policy, partnerships, and people to move entire networks forward. If food insecurity is a systems problem, this conversation reveals where real alignment—and real progress—actually begins...