Kitchen Meditations with Kendall Vanderslice

Have you ever followed a diet together with a community of friends? Maybe you all agreed to cut out sugar for a week, or you’re trying a Dry January altogether. Perhaps you have found community through your diet—you went Paleo for awhile and enjoyed building connections with other Paleo people on Instagram. Or you’re vegan and, despite all the jokes lobbed at vegans, you’re grateful to be a part of something beyond yourself. What is it about our diet that connects us with others? Why do we find it easier to eat in a certain manner when we do it with friends? And why does our diet become such a significant part of our identity? Most importantly: is this helpful or harmful for us? These are the questions we explore in this episode on diets, identity, and belonging—and how we can create a more holistic relationship to community and food. Links and Resources: Pre-Order By Bread Alone today! Check out our Worship at the Table program. Learn more about intuitive eating.

You are what you eat. I imagine you’ve heard this phrase before. Maybe it’s helped you embrace the foods that connect you to family or to home. Or maybe it’s shamed you for enjoying something unhealthy. In our third episode on Diet Culture, we’ll dive into the way food shapes our identities, for better or for worse, and how we can use food to remind us of who we are. Links and Resources: Eating Right in America by Charlotte Biltekoff The Body of the Conquistador by Rebecca Earle Pre-order By Bread Alone today!

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase, “clean eating”? Is it raw fruits and vegetables, whole grains and nuts and seeds, milk in a glass bottle and home fermented yogurt? What about…a squishy loaf of Wonderbread? In our second episode on Diet Culture, we’ll explore the history of clean eating, how this framework has shifted, and how we can find more helpful ways of relating to the foods we eat. Links and Resources: White Bread: A Social History of a Loaf by Aaron Bobrow-Strain Purity and Danger by Mary Douglas Pre-Order your copy of Kendall's new book, By Bread Alone, today!

Happy New Year! Are you bombarded by messages about how to make this year the best one yet? Are you struggling with the siren call of new dietary plans? Instead, let’s consider the rhythms of fasting and feasting built into the church calendar. They just might help us enter the new year in celebration rather than shame.Links and Resources from this episode: Supper of the Lamb King Cake Recipe Pre-order Kendall's book By Bread Alone

On this fourth Sunday of Advent, we’re going to look to the hospitality given and received by the Holy Family just after Christ’s birth. And we’re going to examine what this story encourages us to do. I hope that this story sparks in you a desire to build communities marked by generosity—I expect you’ll find fulfillment greater than you could have imagined too. Listen in. This Advent, we partnered with WeWelcome, an organization that teaches Americans how to advocate on behalf of our refugee neighbors. Together, we are learning how the hospitality found in the story of Christ’s birth invites us to live out welcome today. You can follow along with our free Advent devotional, “Bread is Home: A Guide to Showing Welcome.” Links and Resources:: Be sure to grab a free copy of our Advent Guide, “Bread is Home: A Guide for Showing Welcome.” Join The Daily Table! Download our show transcript or subscribe to our weekly newsletter at www.edibletheology.com/kitchen-meditations. Follow The Edible Theology Project on Facebook or Instagram.

Today begins the third week of Advent—Gaudete Sunday. This is the week of Advent devoted to joy. On this third Sunday of Advent, we’re going to look to some of the most absurd moments in the story of Christ’s birth, stories that we think just might be God encouraging us to laugh a little bit.This Advent, we partnered with WeWelcome, an organization that teaches Americans how to advocate on behalf of our refugee neighbors. Together, we are learning how the hospitality found in the story of Christ’s birth invites us to live out welcome today. You can follow along with our free Advent devotional, “Bread is Home: A Guide to Showing Welcome.” Links & Resources: Be sure to grab a free copy of our Advent Guide, “Bread is Home: A Guide for Showing Welcome.” Join The Daily Table! Download our show transcript or subscribe to our weekly newsletter at www.edibletheology.com/kitchen-meditations. Follow The Edible Theology Project on Facebook or Instagram.

On this second Sunday of Advent, we’re going to look to the hospitality Mary showed God in carrying the infant Jesus in her body. Through this story, we’ll look for the gifts we can find when we open ourselves up to others, even at the most inconvenient times. This Advent, we partnered with WeWelcome, an organization that teaches Americans how to advocate on behalf of our refugee neighbors. Together, we are learning how the hospitality found in the story of Christ’s birth invites us to live out welcome today. You can follow along with our free Advent devotional, “Bread is Home: A Guide to Showing Welcome.” Links and Resources: Be sure to grab a free copy of our Advent Guide, “Bread is Home: A Guide for Showing Welcome.” Join The Daily Table! Download our show transcript or subscribe to our weekly newsletter at www.edibletheology.com/kitchen-meditations. Follow The Edible Theology Project on Facebook or Instagram.

This Advent, we partnered with WeWelcome, an organization that teaches Americans how to advocate on behalf of our refugee neighbors. Together, we are learning how the hospitality found in the story of Christ’s birth invites us to live out welcome today. On this first Sunday of Advent, we’re going to look to the story of Elizabeth and Zachariah. We’ll examine what their lives can teach us about embracing the gift of hospitality, even in seasons of unmet longing and endless waiting. We pray this episode will be an encouragement to you in your own seasons of longing. Listen in. Links and Resources: Be sure to grab a free copy of our Advent Guide, “Bread is Home: A Guide for Showing Welcome”. Donate $25+ to Edible Theology and receive a copy of “A Guide to Hard Conversations at the Holidays.” Consider supporting The Edible Theology Project with a tax-free monthly or a one-time donation at www.edibletheology.com/fundraiser. Follow The Edible Theology Project on Facebook or Instagram.

Thanksgiving is a complex holiday. Both its history and the role it plays in many families today. This week on Kitchen Meditations, we’re talking about Thanksgiving. We believe it is a day we can choose to confess our brokenness and work towards healing, together at the table. If you’re looking for a new way to approach the holidays this year, listen in. Links and Resources: Pie Ranch and Amah Mutsun history How the Civil War created Thanksgiving Download our show transcript or subscribe to our weekly newsletter at www.edibletheology.com/kitchen-meditations. Consider supporting The Edible Theology Project with a tax-free monthly or a one-time donation at www.edibletheology.com/donate. Follow The Edible Theology Project on Facebook or Instagram.

This Fall, we’ve been reflecting on our food stories and how they impact our sense of home. We believe these conversations are critical as our country faces both a loneliness epidemic and increasing social discord. This week, Kendall Vanderslice shares some of her own food story, how it led her to create the Edible Theology Project, and why gathering at the table in this season is more important than ever. Listen in .USA Today article on Loneliness and American democracy Support The Edible Theology Project with a tax-free monthly or a one-time donation at www.edibletheology.com/fundraiser. Download our show transcript & subscribe to our weekly newsletter at www.edibletheology.com/kitchen-meditations. Follow The Edible Theology Project on Facebook or Instagram.