There’s an obvious chasm in the U.S. between the rich and poor; and there doesn’t seem a bridge big enough to patch that gap any time soon. Meanwhile, the imbalance between the obese and the hungry is sickening, in every sense of the word.

Globally, more than 1.5 billion adults and about 43 million children under the age of 5 are overweight. On the other side of the scale, hunger is the world’s top health risk, killing more people every year than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined, according to the United Nations World Food Programme, which recorded that 925 million people do not have enough to eat (98% of them live in developing countries). But even in the U.S., in 2010, more than 17 million households, 14.5% of households (or approximately one in seven), were food insecure, according to a USDA report published in September 2011. This is reality, as nightmarish as it may seem.

The Great Recession has amplified serious dysfunctions in our social stratum and political system. We’ve dug such a big ditch that the challenges we face almost seem super human. Regardless of your political leanings, the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement was borne of a level of frustration and inequality that cannot be stun-gunned to sleep. It’s not about politics; it’s about people.

I’m a big believer that ideas, actions and people are all entangled in a giant web of connectivity. I’m not talking about the Internet specifically but perhaps that symbolizes my point. Every action has a consequence—seen or unseen.

Clearly, the dietary supplement and food/beverage industry isn’t floating in space independent of society’s larger problems. Maybe you’re reminded of that when you look at your bottom line at the end of this year. Or maybe you’re one of the luckier ones, who made wise decisions and planned prudently.

To me, corporations are not people. But the people who make decisions and drive those companies in specific directions have an opportunity to impact the lives of many more than their own.

Einstein once said something like: “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” In the same vein, just because something has worked in the past doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to work in the future.

No matter what position you’re in right now, some things are bigger than business. Sometimes perspective sneaks up on us. Now more than ever, as a country, as a planet, as businesses, as people, I think we all need to consider our direction and how best to affect that course moving forward.