His Influence Comes Through ‘Mary’s Meals’

Even Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow admits he might not have selected himself as one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People. A list like that is more the province of popes and presidents, he reckoned. In speaking with the self-effacing humanitarian on the day the gala took place last week, however, it was clear the folks from Time got this one right.

Just consider that the soft-spoken, 47-year-old former salmon farmer from the Highlands of Scotland is the founder of Mary’s Meals, a nonprofit organization now feeding nearly 1 million schoolchildren—989,791 to be precise—in a dozen countries, one meal every single day at their schools.

He called it a grassroots movement that relies on thousands and thousands of volunteers cooking, serving, speaking and hosting events supporting the work that has grown exponentially since Mary’s Meals was founded in 2002.

“It’s lots of little acts of love, lots of us doing small things, none of us doing spectacular things,” he said during an interview at the New York Catholic Center in Manhattan April 15 where he had just been one of the guests on Cardinal Dolan’s weekly “Conversations with the Cardinal” radio show on Sirius XM’s The Catholic Channel.

On the show, he told the cardinal Mary’s Meals is able to provide one child a meal a day for a grand total of $19.50 per year.

The cardinal, he told me, had graciously endorsed MacFarlane-Barrow’s book, “The Shed That Fed a Million Children,” calling the work of Mary’s Meals “a modern day miracle of the loaves and fishes.” The book is to be published by HarperCollins on May 26.

So how exactly does a salmon farmer decide to feed the world’s children? Well, the answer actually hits pretty close to home for the married father of seven children.

He is the product of a devout Catholic family. When he was 15, he said he and his parents and siblings had a profound religious experience during their visit to Medjugorje, which led his parents to convert the small hotel where they lived into a retreat center called Craig Lodge. It is still in operation today.

Years later, when war broke out in Bosnia, Magnus and his brother collected supplies and brought them to refugees there. That was actually the beginning of what would later become Mary’s Meals. Not surprisingly, he credits its existence and success to “the fruit of prayer.” In case you haven’t gotten it by now, the “Mary” in the organization’s name refers to the Blessed Mother.

MacFarlane-Barrow is also a big believer in the goodness of the people who have supported his work and helped it to flourish. Mary’s Meals has supporters the world over, and he told me that the United States is no exception. One place where he has returned a number of times is the Christ Our Life biennial regional conference of thousands of Catholics in Des Moines, Iowa. “Because of that, our work has become quite well known,” he said.

That his own name is not a household one just yet didn’t appear to faze MacFarlane-Barrow in the least. He realizes his selection to Time’s 100 was a good boost for Mary’s Meals, and said he was looking forward to breaking out his “best kilt” for the Manhattan gala.

His real victory is joining with myriad others, including a legion of some 65,000 volunteers in Malawi, to bring nutritious meals to kids who need them. The youngsters being helped are primarily in Africa, India and Haiti.

“It’s saving lives every day,” he said. “That’s what drives us on.”

Despite the successes they’ve enjoyed, it’s never been about the numbers. Besides, there are millions more young people who need assistance from Mary’s Meals.

“It’s about the next child that’s waiting,” he said.