Growing Chefs! Ontario: “You Can’t Undo It”: A Conversation with Jeremy Clark

Some of our most meaningful relationships begin with a chain of small, unlikely connections. For Jeremy Clark, neuroscientist, entrepreneur, and yes, stand-up comedian, the path to Growing Chefs! Ontario wound through a tennis tournament, a keynote speaker from Edmonton, and a concert in Hamilton. It’s the kind of origin story that could only happen to someone who stays genuinely curious about the world around him.

Jeremy had spent years focusing his philanthropic energy around two themes: the arts and education. He supported the Calgary Philharmonic, McGill University, school breakfast and lunch programs in Calgary. He wasn’t necessarily looking for a new cause when a mutual connection suggested he meet Growing Chefs! Ontario Executive Director Andrew Fleet. But one conversation led to another, and eventually to a tour of our space, a fundraising dinner, and a commitment to support the work we do here in London.

“My themes historically had been music and the arts, and education — and then food security,” Jeremy says. ​“and what you guys are doing is an amazing food security initiative.”

What struck Jeremy wasn’t just the mission – it was the people behind it. ​“I have never met someone with Andrew’s degree of knowledge about names, locations, what people are doing, it’s encyclopedic and amazing. And really, the only way you could do that is to be passionate and a good person.” He’s quick to add that he’s only just getting started. ​“I’ve just seen the tip of the iceberg and I’m really intrigued so far.”

For Jeremy, writing a cheque is never really the point. ​“I don’t want to be some dilettante donor who just writes cheques and nobody really cares what the cause is. I want to make sure I’m giving a good contribution of myself, not just money, but me. And if I do that properly, I think I could also inspire some other people to get involved.” It’s a philosophy rooted in genuine curiosity and the belief that understanding something well enough to explain it to someone else is the truest measure of engagement. ​“When you explain to somebody all the great things Growing Chefs is doing,” he says, ​“what person on earth wouldn’t listen to that and go — that’s important, I want to support that?”

That same spirit shapes the way Jeremy thinks about asking others to give. He’s not interested in putting a dollar sign above anyone’s. ​“Get somebody interested in the idea of what you’re doing. Don’t worry about financial capacity at the beginning. If they like what you’re doing and they have financial capacity, the money is going to come.” He notes that Andrew never once asked him for a specific amount — it was Jeremy who brought it up, because he was already bought in. ​“You’ve already got that alignment: this matches my values, this matches other things I believe in.”

He’s equally emphatic that financial giving is only one piece of the picture. ​“If somebody’s capacity is physical labor and volunteering, that’s cool too. I would never want someone like that to feel they’re less important than somebody who’s giving at a high level. It’s all important.”

The deeper motivation, though, comes back to something simple and hard to look away from. ​“Families aren’t eating together anymore,” he says. ​“And the less money you have, the more nutritionally poor your diet tends to be — you’re not feeling good, you’re feeling hungry, and then you’re trying to learn and function. I have such empathy for that.”

For anyone sitting on the fence about getting involved — whether as a donor, a volunteer, or simply someone curious about the work — Jeremy’s advice is characteristically direct. ​“It’s one of those devilishly simple things in life where if you think about it too much, there’s inertia that’s going to stop you. Just pick something you like. Think broadly and thematically. Find a couple of groups doing work in that space, reach out, and say: I’m curious about what you’re doing — I’d like to learn more. And let that opportunity unfold.”

Once you’re in, he says, you don’t come back out. ​“You can’t be a philanthropist and then one day decide, okay, that’s enough. Once you’re in it, you can’t undo it. And it’s the greatest thing that ever happened to you — the only other thing I can compare it to is having children.”