the Hunger for Connection

I thought it would be clever to ask you what flavor of person you liked best, but running through the potential answers in my head made it abundantly clear that it would likely turn problematic real quick, so let’s forget I even suggested it, shall we? Flavor is the way our bodies interpret the signals they receive from food, and it’s a helpful tool in figuring out what to eat and what to reject....

Is it rude of me to start with such a fancy word? I apologize. What I meant to say was this: You feel what you feel, and you’re feelings are real. Truer words are rarely said - especially by a cartoon reindeer. Believe it or not, he’s speaking solid scientific truth. Your feelings are a very real thing, and they will lead to very real attitudes and behaviors. Your child’s feelings are also very re...

Yes, I have kids. No, they haven’t always eaten everything I’ve put in front of them. In spite of all this, I stand by my statement: there is no such thing as a “picky eater.” This is not an argument over semantics but an attempt to understand attitudes and behaviors - both around food and otherwise - in a way that seeks to recognize the Hunger for Connection that is behind them. In today’s episod...

Sometimes people get stuck in a certain way of thinking. We see it all the way from international geopolitics down to kiddos refusing to eat their vegetables. It can be challenging to challenge someone else’s worldview - even in seemingly simple, small, harmless ways - in order to help them see the potential for joy and connection can be found when they step outside their box. This is certainly th...

Yes, I have kids. No, they haven’t always eaten everything I’ve put in front of them. In spite of all this, I stand by my statement: there is no such thing as a “picky eater.” This is not an argument over semantics but an attempt to understand attitudes and behaviors - both around food and otherwise - in a way that seeks to recognize the Hunger for Connection that is behind them. In today’s episod...

I did not misspeak… or mistype? Many of the most beneficial foods for you and your child are blue vegetables - at least, that’s what they’d say in ancient Japan. Were they colorblind? No. While the colors we see are the result of light wavelengths interacting with the sensory receptors in the backs of our eyeballs, the way that we interpret those signals are largely learned and formed through cult...

The holiday season came and went before I could sit down to record an episode. Election season is over, and the college football season is wrapping up in a few short hours (go Bucks!). The winter season is now upon us, as is a new year and visions for what the future will hold. In our lives as parents, we go through different seasons - and caring for disconnected children can bring with it some da...

Do you enjoy watching celebrities recoil in pain as they munch on wings dipped in sauces of increasing degrees of “heat?” Hot they really are not. Your sensory system has an incredible capacity to detect all sorts of various sensations - light, dark, hot, cold, sweet, sour, rough, smooth, heat, and pain. However, it sometimes gets it wrong. Hot foods are a perfect example. In spite of the searing,...

Refreshments are such a common part of our culture that we don’t often consider just how important a role being fed plays in allowing us to be in better relationship with ourselves and others. Today on the Hunger for Connection Podcast, Chef Kibby dives into the neuroscience of eating and how being refreshed is about more than simply satisfying a craving for chips and guacamole! I hope you are ser...

In this turbulent time in our country’s history, it’s easy to get stuck into the us-versus-them mentality - a mentality that can just as easily creep into our parenting. Today on the Hunger for Connection Podcast, join me as I show how seeing the Hunger for Connection in others - including those with whom we disagree politically - can open up hidden stores of empathy and compassion, allowing us to...

How is it possible for us to be both hungry and happy, and what does it have to do with the Gospel? In a recent episode of the Bible Project Podcast, Tim and Jon discussed a familiar passage in the Gospel of Matthew that drew my attention — mainly because my understanding of it differs slightly from theirs. I want to share with you my perspective on this section of the Beatitudes and explain why i...

If you’ve ever had a child spin out of control over something seemingly small and insignificant, then you know what it’s like to live in the Distress Cycle. In this installment of the Hunger for Connection, we continue to dig into the meaning of hunger, how it relates to how our children relate to the world around them, and how understanding the Distress Cycle can help us as foster and adoptive ca...

At the intersection of interpersonal neurogastronomy and child development is an insightful truth: none of us were born understanding hunger. That’s not to say we weren’t born hungry or for the capacity to be hungry; hunger is more than simply the discomfort it causes us. In order for hunger to do its job, understanding must be developed — a set of neurological connections formed in relationship t...

The first lesson I learned when I began to study the realm of interpersonal neurogastronomy is this: food has no flavor. You may not realize how important this distinction is to understanding our relationship with food, but after listening to this episode of the podcast you’ll also see how much an impact this change in perspective can have on caring for children from hard places. I hope you are se...

This radically new perspective on trauma-informed care -- one that is also informed by the emerging field of interpersonal neurogastronomy -- was born out of a time of deep personal sadness and the discovery of my own Hunger for Connection. I hope you are served by this episode. If so, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a friend. For more about TBRI, visit the Karyn Purvis Institu...

In this first episode of the Hunger for Connection, you'll learn about the drive for peace that lives within every one of us and how it impacts the way we show up in relationship to one another. You will see how understanding the pursuit of peace as a type of hunger can help you in your pursuit of peace when it comes to caring for children from hard places -- those placed into our homes through fo...

After hitting that subscribe button, please leave a review wherever you are listing and let me know what you are most looking forward to learning from this podcast. I’d love to know how I can serve you. Learn more about my speaking ministry and how to equip yourself, your church, organization, or ministry by visiting chefkibby.com