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We’re talking about a food mindset today. It’s always a joy to introduce y’all to a guest blogger. I ran across Chad Gramling more or less randomly, like I’m prone to do.

He’s multifaceted, for sure, and his book, Food Thrifting, is available on Amazon at the link. Man, it’s good. It goes way way beyond just money saving. I’ve had a wonky relationship with food all my life, and this helped me get some sense and focus.

Chad hangs out at 1Glories.com. His blog is darn good, and he’s one worth following.

Check this out. It’s good stuff!

How Your Food Mindset Can Improve Your Wellbeing

Like it or not, we all have relationships with food and money. The same reasons we seek out “retail therapy” may be the same reasons we go for a pint (or gallon) of ice cream. Could be a bad day. Could be that you have reason to celebrate. Whatever the reason, there is a relationship.

It’s proof that, as people, we are prone to misplacing our relationship emphasis on stuff, like food and money. This is instead of with God and God’s people.

Of course, the food suppliers and marketers of our world know we behave this way. They know we lack discipline over our spending and eating. Couple this with being a noisey culture that’s constantly busy; and healthy — or even unhealthy — eating as a family becomes less frequent. A rarity, perhaps, for some families.

In our noisy culture, food is fast. Food is fuel. Food is a substitute. Something to “fill us.” It’s a substitute for the connection of a relationship.

Righting Your Food Mindset

Having the good fortune of growing up with the influence of both sets of grandparents who were products of the Great Depression, I got many lessons on stewarding food resources. So much so, it became a pillar of my personal worldview.

That’s why I can’t help but notice when I see people who would gain value in knowing and adopting some of these behaviors into their own lives.

Years back, I felt a calling from God to share these lessons by compiling them into a book. The book had a few starts and stops. I put it off, and then something changed that compelled me to finally finish it.

Food and Poverty

As our worst fears over the Coronavirus started becoming real, and the whole world essentially lurched toward a shutdown, people — as would be expected — panicked. Store shelves were depleted and food suppliers couldn’t replenish fast enough.

The impact of seeing this upon my psyche was pretty severe. You see, during the course of researching and writing my book, FoodThrifting, I took a deep dive into the state of food, food distribution, and skills for preparing food in this country. What I had observed convinced me that the food industry is one of the big reasons poverty exists here and elsewhere in the world.

While witnessing the shelves being emptied and meat markets unable to keep up with demand, I took it all in. I thought about the single-parent on a limited income or a family living paycheck-to-paycheck. And then, once they had funds to get their regular groceries, possibly couldn’t find anything to buy. I thought about the households where cooking wasn’t a skill they were taught while growing up and therefore relies more on restaurants, which were mostly closed. I thought about the kids that get much of their food through free school meals, which were at risk of not being available.

Relationships with Food Matters

Poverty is a very real part of life. And Jesus said there will always be poverty (Matthew 26:11). I don’t think he said this to tell us to just accept it as fact. No, I think he said it as a mandate to live and love by his example.

How so?

Well, dig into your Bible and you will see Jesus using food, not as a substitute, but as a facilitator of relationships. Author, professor, and preacher, Leonard Sweet, notes, that food “was the language Jesus used to introduce us mortals to the wisdom of God and the ways of creation. Think about it. Every time you turn around in the Scriptures, Jesus is eating and drinking. These feasts are significant. They tell us of a God of Joy and celebration, a God of life and health, a God who offers us ‘soul food,’ the very ‘bread of heaven.”

Following the example of Christ and his ministry, we can use food to facilitate relationships. To help people achieve increased wellness in their lives, whether physically, financially, or spiritually. Truthfully, as I have learned, all three go hand-in-hand. And being a responsible steward of your food and money resources – thereby being well in your own life and being able to help others in theirs – allows you to work towards all three at once.