Participants:
Series Code: UBR
Program Code: UBR210015S
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00:01 Stay tuned because we're going to give you
00:03 something to chew on. 00:05 My name is Yvonne Shelton, 00:07 and you're watching Urban Report. 00:32 Hello and welcome to Urban Report. 00:34 My guest today is chef and Pastor GW Chew. 00:38 He's the host 00:40 of Dare to dream's, Chew's Challenge, 00:42 a program that promotes lifestyle change 00:44 and healthy living. 00:46 He is also the CEO and founder of Something Better Foods. 00:51 Welcome to Urban Report, 00:54 Pastors Chef Chew. 00:58 Well. It's happened. I'm happy to be here. 01:00 Give you something to chew on. 01:01 That's right. That's right. 01:03 We need something to chew on. 01:04 Yes, ma'am. 01:06 It's so great to have you here. 01:08 You know, we've known each other 01:10 for several years now. 01:12 You first came to 3ABN Dare to Dream, 01:16 how long ago? 01:19 You know, at first I remember meeting CA, 01:22 I think that was in 2012, but then 01:25 I want to say it was 3ABN Today or 3ABN, 01:27 one of those programs. 01:28 And I did the program with you guys in 2014 01:30 on the Chew's Challenge. 01:31 So, you know, 01:33 3ABN have been a big part of my life 01:34 for the last, you know, 10, 10, 12, 13 years now. 01:36 So that's amazing, so. 01:38 You've been a big part of ours as well. 01:40 And we're so thankful for you and for your ministry. 01:44 For those who are not familiar with your journey, 01:47 would you share a bit of that with us? 01:49 Let us know, like, what, where'd you come from? 01:52 Where are you from? 01:54 Yeah, you know, I always, like to, 01:55 I say to everybody, I say, I look, I'm a country boy. 01:57 I grew up in Southern Maryland 01:59 about one, about 45 minutes, south of Washington, DC. 02:04 And crazy story, my daddy actually was a sharecropper 02:06 growing up. 02:08 And when I was born in 1982, he was still sharecropping. 02:10 So my father was in my father's family, 02:12 very country folk, you know, we ate, 02:14 you know, I talked about food, we ate everything. 02:16 You know, we had eggs, we ate it. 02:18 If it had a mama, we ate it, you know, squirrel, 02:21 you know, I miss possum by 10 years, 02:24 thanking Lord for that. 02:28 But, you know, ironically or kind of weird story, 02:31 my mother's side of the family was Seventh-day Adventist. 02:33 And so while my father's side of the family 02:34 was heavy meat eaters, 02:36 you know, my mother's side of the family were vegetarians. 02:38 So I grew up, you know, in this, 02:40 you know, country environment, real slow pace. 02:43 We love to eat, 02:44 but my mother's side of the family, 02:46 like I said was vegetarian, my daddy's side of the family 02:47 were heavy meat eaters. 02:49 And so I got, kind of got exposed to everything, 02:52 you know, at a young age. 02:53 And eventually, 02:55 you know, I started gravitating to a more, 02:57 you know, vegetarian lifestyle as I got older. 02:59 So, yeah, yeah. 03:00 So I grew up in the country 03:02 and a lot of good eating, good folks 03:04 and had a great childhood growing up. 03:06 And when was your family a Christian family or? 03:11 You know... 03:12 Yeah, so my mom was raised Seventh-day Adventist, 03:15 my dad didn't really go to church too much, 03:16 but my mother said, sit and meet in the church 03:19 with my uncle and my aunt. 03:20 Uncle still a pastor in Maryland still. 03:23 But I grew up, started going 03:25 to the Seventh-day Adventist Church 03:26 when I was in third grade. 03:28 So all the way from third grade 03:31 till I graduated from high school. 03:32 It's kind of interesting story when I got to high school, 03:34 but I started going to church 03:36 from third grade all the way through, 03:38 but I wasn't practicing at home. 03:40 So it was pretty much, I was the kid 03:42 that, you know, my uncle and my aunt 03:44 who pretty much took care of me on Sabbath in essence. 03:47 They took, you know, took me to church. 03:48 And I remember every week 03:49 I'd love to go to church for the potlucks. 03:51 I love to get the food. 03:54 You know, I wanted to go to church 03:56 to get the good food. 03:58 That was, that's what got me excited. 03:59 So that was really what kept me coming, 04:01 but also the message, 04:02 you know, I learned a lot as a child 04:04 and eventually kind of crazy story 04:06 when I became a senior in high school. 04:09 I had a full track scholarship to go to Howard University. 04:13 And it was crazy. 04:14 I was, I knew about the Sabbath 04:16 and I, but I didn't, you know, really wasn't following yet. 04:18 I didn't have to, my parents didn't force me 04:20 to keep the Sabbath or nothing like that, 04:21 but, but I wanted to follow the Sabbath 04:23 and I had the scholarship, 04:25 but most of the track races was on Saturday. 04:28 Once I signed a scholarship 04:30 about almost a week later 04:32 after I signed the scholarship to go to Howard University, 04:35 which is one of the leading, you know, HBCUs in the country. 04:37 My leg breaks in a race. 04:39 I mean, I don't know if you're gonna understand. 04:41 So I'm literally 17 years old. 04:43 I'm about to graduate high school. 04:44 I just got a full scholarship 04:45 to go to Howard University, paid for, 04:47 my leg breaks in a race 04:49 right after I signed the scholarship. 04:51 And all I could really feel and hear from the, 04:54 you know, the Holy Spirit is kind of urging me 04:56 that I shouldn't take the scholarship 04:58 because I'll be breaking the Sabbath 04:59 and, you know, crazy story, I ended up going to the coach 05:03 at Howard University and saying, 05:04 Hey, I'm not gonna accept the scholarship. 05:06 I'm gonna keep the seventh day Sabbath. 05:08 And that honestly began my personal journey 05:11 as a Christian, 05:12 as a Seventh-day Adventist Christian, 05:14 as a Sabbath keeper. 05:15 And it has taught me that, 05:17 you know, Christianity comes with the cost. 05:19 And that was really the, the big leap for me 05:22 and my faith was that experience. 05:24 And from that day forward, I've been, you know, 05:27 been in this journey as a Christian 05:29 and then trying to learn 05:30 how to follow Jesus with all of my heart. 05:32 Oh, that's beautiful. 05:34 Isn't it interesting 05:35 how the Holy Spirit will intervene in our lives 05:39 and in such unexpected ways? 05:42 You know, it's just unexpected the way He intervenes, 05:46 like breaking your leg, right 05:48 just as you were getting ready to embark 05:51 upon that whole career. 05:53 That career could have led you away from God 05:56 for a life time. 05:58 Yes. Yes. 05:59 So the Lord is so merciful. 06:01 And you know my... 06:02 You know, I was having a big ego growing up 06:04 and I think God was like, yeah, 06:06 if this boy go start running and start getting all these, 06:08 you know, all this, this is not going to be a good place. 06:11 I think the Holy Spirit, like you said, 06:12 he knew what was good for me. 06:13 And I thank God for what he did. 06:15 I would not change it for the world. 06:17 Yes. Yes. 06:18 Amen. Amen. 06:20 So when you were a young boy, 06:23 were you into cooking or did that happen later? 06:27 Nah, man, my mama said, look, 06:29 one day you might not get, you might not get married 06:31 and I'm going to teach you how to cook 06:33 'cause she made me to cook. 06:34 That's a good mama right there. 06:35 That's a good mom. 06:37 So when I was seven, eight years old, 06:40 I remember, you know, learning how to do, 06:43 you know this, I mean, this simple stuff, 06:45 you know, make an oatmeal, you know, to make, 06:47 you know, the old school, top ramen noodles, 06:49 you know, I call them ooza noodles growing up, 06:52 but this basic stuff. 06:53 And as I got little older, like more like in middle school, 06:55 I learned how to fry chicken and, 06:58 you know, mamas, you know, kind of just 06:59 taught me the tricks of the trade, 07:01 my daddy also was a cook as well. 07:02 So he all see it. 07:03 My father was a chef, you know, he had a specific recipes and, 07:07 you know, my mother had her thing. 07:08 She made her mac and cheese, 07:10 so sweet potato pie, her potato salad. 07:11 And so my family took a lot of pride 07:13 in what they made. 07:15 And as I got a little older, I started wanting to make 07:17 my little special recipes. 07:18 And so it was the culture of my family. 07:20 We love to eat. 07:21 Everybody had their signature recipes 07:23 and it was a part of my family's culture, 07:25 Thanksgiving and Christmas and the summer cookouts, 07:28 all those are big events centered around 07:30 good eating and good food. 07:32 So that I really, you know, never forgotten. 07:33 Did my aunt and my uncle side, 07:35 my mother's side of the family, they were vegetarian. 07:37 So they made the vegetarian scallops and, 07:40 you know, they had ready burger 07:41 and all these different, special K, 07:43 all these vegetarian dishes 07:45 that I'd never heard of, but they tasted good though. 07:48 So I got excited about vegetarian food 07:51 because it tasted good at a young age, 07:53 even though I wasn't doing it at home, 07:54 if that makes sense. 07:56 Yeah. And, you know, it's so important that it tastes good. 07:59 Like, you know, it could be... 08:02 It could be healthy, but if it's nasty, 08:05 nobody wants to eat it, 08:07 but if it's healthy and it tastes good, what, 08:10 so that's what was happening with you. 08:12 You were exposed to healthy foods 08:15 that taste good. 08:16 And by the way, you are making me 08:18 so hungry right now. 08:19 I get so hungry 08:21 thinking about that, those scallops, 08:23 those vegetarian scallops. 08:24 What? 08:26 So anyway. 08:29 So, that's how you got into the vegan cooking 08:33 because you got exposed to it 08:35 through your mother's side of the family? 08:36 Yeah. 08:38 So that kind of started, I got exposed early. 08:39 So by the time now, you know, I'm 17 years old, 08:42 I quit my scholarship. 08:44 You know, now that I'm a Seventh-day Adventist. 08:46 And I started changing my lifestyle. 08:47 So, you know, I became a vegetarian. 08:51 But again, I was the person 08:52 that ate chicken, fried chicken. 08:54 That was three, four times a week, you know? 08:56 So as I became a vegetarian, 08:58 I started missing what I grew up on. 09:01 So I wanted to, you know, figure out 09:03 how to make the things that I love the most. 09:05 And so eventually went from vegetarian to vegan. 09:08 But again, this is 2001, you know, 09:10 so this is before plant-based and veganism, 09:13 was mostly vegetarian. 09:14 It wasn't, you know, it was kind of unavailable. 09:16 So I began learning 09:18 how to make stuff from scratch myself. 09:19 So I got cookbooks, old school cookbooks. 09:22 I found a cookbook called Country Life cookbook, 09:25 one of the old Seventh-day Adventist cookbooks, 09:26 another one called Ten Talents. 09:28 And I started taking these cookbooks 09:30 and started this going through recipe by recipe, 09:33 learning how to make these good foods. 09:36 But, you know, I have my own little twist to it. 09:38 I always add a little spice, my little special seasoning, 09:40 you know, 09:42 and so that creative spirit was there early on. 09:45 And eventually I kind of got excited 09:47 about making my own vegetarian chicken. 09:49 So I had my first product called 09:50 believe it's not honey, barbecue chicken, 09:52 you know, look like chicken, 09:54 tastes like chicken, but guess what? 09:55 It ain't chicken. 09:57 So, you know, I started in 2004 10:00 when I started developing, 10:02 you know, my first iterations of my products 10:04 that I'm even still doing today 10:06 so, you know, again, it was really that creative spirit, 10:09 this knowing, and I had you know, 10:10 growing up eating meat, 10:12 I know what it should taste like. 10:13 And I also had a passion for stuff that, 10:15 you know, it had to taste good. 10:16 I don't want though, you know, sometimes 10:17 I didn't have vegetarian food. 10:19 The food looked like it's, looked like sandpaper. 10:20 I mean, you don't know what stuff it is, 10:22 it looked like dog food. 10:23 So I'm like, we ain't making no dog food. 10:24 You know what I mean, 10:26 stuff that tastes good, you know. 10:27 So, that was kind of the passion. 10:29 And over time, I mean, I'll tell you the Holy Spirit, 10:32 he started coming in. 10:34 And it's amazing 10:35 when you read our writings of our church, 10:37 Ellen White talked about, 10:39 you know, that there'll be young men and young women 10:41 that will learn how to make recipes 10:43 without the use of flesh and meats, 10:44 you know, from simple ingredients. 10:46 And I read some of these statements from her 10:48 and I believed it. 10:49 And I tell you, God came through, 10:52 taught me some secrets in 2007, 10:54 I learned some techniques 10:55 on how to take different types of grains and beans 10:59 and how to create my own texture 11:01 that has a very meat like texture. 11:03 And so that was my first iteration 11:04 of some of the tech, 11:06 the technical, you know, technology, 11:07 you know, they call it technology in my industry, 11:09 but it was some of the simple concepts 11:11 that I learned early 11:12 that I've built on for the last 15 years. 11:15 You know what we're doing in the day, 11:16 but that's where it began in my mama's kitchen, 11:18 learning how to cook in my mama's kitchen 11:19 staying up all night, 11:21 cooking and blending and making noise 11:22 and all that, and it started that. 11:24 Yeah, yeah. See, that's so great. 11:27 And one of the things too, that's so important is texture. 11:31 It can't, it has to, it's so good 11:34 when the texture is similar to the original, 11:37 or some people will say, 11:38 well, why are you trying to imitate the original? 11:41 Well, because when people are transitioning 11:43 into another diet or lifestyle, 11:46 it's important to have a similar texture 11:50 I think rather than one that is already foreign, 11:54 that you're eating just vegetables, 11:55 you know, and grain and stuff like that. 11:57 And then, but so if you have the texture, 12:00 that's similar to the original, 12:02 I just think it makes some such a difference. 12:06 And that's so important 12:07 now that I didn't shared from my childhood, 12:09 most of my family members, 12:10 especially on my father's side begin to get that, 12:14 get different diseases. 12:15 So, you know, diet, diabetes, heart disease, 12:19 cancer, all of these lifestyle diseases 12:22 began plaguing our families and my aunts and uncles 12:24 are in their 40s in their early 50s. 12:27 And it's sad to say by the time I was 17, 18, 12:30 they begin to die. 12:31 I mean, it's like this 55 years old. 12:33 And there, I mean, literally one by one, it's a sad story. 12:37 My family began, they began to have lifestyle 12:39 disease that was causing death. 12:41 And so it became more of a life or death issue, 12:45 whereas that if I could make products that has this, 12:47 like you said, that texture, that tastes, 12:50 that experience that they were familiar with, 12:52 you know, this product can literally save people's lives 12:55 because it can get them off of the foods 12:57 that's causing the death. 12:59 You know, these heavy, high meat diets, 13:01 high in dairy and all these things 13:03 that's just causing the, 13:05 you know, excess fat and our lifestyles, 13:07 cholesterol, et cetera, et cetera. 13:09 So yeah, this is a life or death issue for me 13:11 and texture and taste is so critical. 13:14 Yes. Yeah. 13:16 It's so important to make the connection 13:19 between nutrition and lifestyle, 13:22 between nutrition and life expectancy, 13:25 between nutrition and disease. 13:28 Because I think that, 13:31 especially in the black communities, 13:33 we have such a high level of lifestyle 13:37 induced diseases 13:40 and we often don't connect them to diet 13:43 and they are so connected to our nutrition. 13:46 And so, you know, 13:49 for those who are transitioning, 13:52 it's so important to actually add 13:55 so much more vegetables into the diet, green foods, 14:00 because there's so many foods that are acidic 14:02 and creating an internal acidic environment. 14:06 And the... 14:07 We know that the vegetables have, 14:10 they changed the internal environment 14:12 to a more alkaline environment, 14:14 which is not conducive to disease. 14:16 So once we realize that, 14:19 you know, we can adjust our diets accordingly, 14:22 and it's important to realize that connection. 14:27 And what I'm hearing you say is that this is more than just 14:31 a career move for you. 14:35 This is a passion for you 14:36 because of what happened in your family, 14:39 because of its impact on your family. 14:43 You've made the decision 14:45 to make some delicious vegan foods. 14:48 I've tasted some by the way, and we'll get to that, 14:51 and they are indeed delicious. 14:53 So, yeah, yeah. 14:56 So, that I think is, is so important for our viewers 15:01 to see that this is more than just a career for you. 15:05 This is a personal issue for you, 15:08 because you saw so many of your family members 15:11 plagued with disease 15:12 as a result of what they were eating. 15:15 And you came up with some recipes. 15:17 What were some of the first things you made 15:20 when you started experimenting in your kitchen? 15:22 Oh, wow. Yeah. 15:24 So, like I said, chicken was number one. 15:26 Like, if I could figure out how to make a chicken 15:27 that tastes like chicken, I mean, that was going to be, 15:30 you know, I mean, that's, again, 15:31 that was center of the plate, you know, that was, 15:33 you know, three, four times a week. 15:35 So, you know, that was a big thing. 15:38 Learned how to make some Southern. 15:39 Again, I'm a Southern country boy, 15:40 you know, some greens, 15:42 how to make the greens off the fatback, 15:43 you know, normally put the ham hocks 15:45 or the turkey bone, turkey neck, 15:46 and all that kind of stuff inside of it. 15:48 So learned how to make some so delicious, 15:50 savory mouthwatering greens, you know, mac and cheese, 15:54 you know, how to make a delicious 15:56 vegan mac and cheese. 15:57 So a lot of my recipes early on was real soulful, 16:00 you know, stuff that I grew up on, 16:01 the stuff that I loved the most. 16:03 Eventually, 16:04 you know, as I started developing it in my, as a chef 16:06 is really starting looking at more like 16:09 these foods that Americans love. 16:10 So I started expanding into, 16:12 you know, Mexican food, 16:14 you know, how to make a vegan taco 16:15 that tastes phenomenal, 16:16 how to make, you know, gourmet sandwiches, 16:18 you know, I make Philly cheesesteaks in, 16:20 you now, chicken melt sandwiches. 16:21 And so, just taking 16:23 what I started doing and saying, 16:24 okay, what are the foods that America loves the most? 16:27 And how can I, I call it veganize it. 16:29 How can I veganize this recipe? 16:31 How can I take this recipe and make it, 16:33 you know, plant-based, make it more plant friendly 16:35 and plant forward. 16:36 And that became my this experimentation, 16:38 so again, a lot of that was meats, you know, 16:41 everything from the fried chicken, 16:43 shredded steak or shredded chicken, 16:45 sausage patties, and, 16:47 you know, even some seafood concepts, 16:49 like I'd make some different types of vegan fish concepts 16:51 that I do now. 16:52 And so all of those became kind of the focus, 16:54 learning to how to make meat alternatives 16:56 and then how to then make some of those sides. 16:58 And some of those things like, 17:00 again, tacos and sandwiches and Asian type foods, 17:03 you know, all of that. 17:04 So it just became a big, I want to say experiments, 17:07 experiment, project, you know, a big cooking, 17:09 cooking lab, you know, 17:11 and with the intent of providing something better, 17:13 which is why we call our company Something Better. 17:15 So that's the whole idea. 17:17 And that's, that is awesome. 17:18 Tell us about some of the products that you, 17:21 that you've made now with Something Better, 17:23 like what, what are the names of the products? 17:27 Yeah, so we, our product is called Better Chew. 17:29 So that's the name of the product. 17:31 We sell the product as Better Chew 17:33 and we'd like to say better texture, 17:35 better taste, better chew. 17:37 So you can say, you know, you see some of those, 17:38 we've got one of our best sellers 17:40 in whole foods market right now 17:41 is our plant-based chicken nuggets. 17:43 We've got an amazing chicken nuggets. 17:45 Kids love it. 17:46 And we make a vegan fried chicken. 17:48 We're going to be launching here 17:50 in the future a plant-based fried fish. 17:53 So they're really excited about that product. 17:55 We do a shredded steak product, which is amazing. 17:58 One for one can make your own tacos at home, 18:00 on your own Philly cheesesteaks at home. 18:03 And so, yeah, a lot of this really, really this things 18:06 that people use on a daily basis. 18:08 Our whole mission is to help home chefs 18:10 become fearless. 18:12 We want you to be able to go home 18:13 and take your traditional recipes 18:15 and use our products and get that same experience 18:18 that you would get if you were using the real thing. 18:20 So that's kind of how we, how we got to push it 18:22 to the community and they love it. 18:23 They love it. They love it. 18:25 Yeah. That is so great. 18:27 And I know that I'm sure they do, 18:29 because again, if you can show 18:31 how their health is going to be improved 18:33 and they're not sacrificing taste for health, 18:37 because some people will say, well, you know what? 18:39 I'm going to take my fried chicken 18:41 and deal with it, 18:42 or they can say, 18:44 well, wait a minute, this tastes really good 18:47 and I can be healthy too. 18:49 So, I mean, it's really a win-win and that's, 18:52 that, that is awesome. 18:54 Tell us about what goes on in minority communities 18:57 and, you know, the inaccessibility 19:01 of vegetables and the food deserts? 19:04 Yeah. That's a big thing. 19:05 You know, I do a lot of work in food justice, 19:07 you know, social justice issues, 19:09 as it relates to places like you said, food access. 19:12 You have a lot of communities, 19:13 you have the inner city communities, 19:15 the urban communities, 19:16 as well as the rural communities 19:19 that don't have access to healthy options. 19:23 And so you would go, let's say 19:24 in an urban community, for example, 19:26 you'll go down a block and you might see 19:29 five miles of just liquor stores, 19:33 convenience stores, 19:35 you know, and these fast food restaurants, 19:37 you know, and this, 19:38 and it's a lot of unhealthy stuff 19:40 that's just totally not healthy for our communities. 19:44 And there's no access, 19:45 there's no grocery stores in sight. 19:47 And when you have a lot of times in these, 19:48 especially in a food desert in urban communities, 19:51 a lot of people don't drive. 19:52 So they don't have access to be able to, 19:54 you know, take a bus or a subway 19:56 if you want to call it, 19:57 you know, to a nearby grocery. 19:59 So that could be way too, that could be too much, 20:01 especially for the elderly community. 20:03 And so again, you know, a food desert is a place 20:05 within one mile there's no grocery store 20:09 and it's in access to that community. 20:12 And if there are, are grocery stores, 20:14 a lot of times the quality of the produce, 20:16 the quality of the food isn't that great. 20:19 And so, hence these communities have higher rates of disease. 20:23 There's higher levels of diabetes, 20:25 higher levels of heart disease. 20:26 Life expectancy is obviously 20:28 going to be a lot shorter in these communities. 20:30 And it's again, when you start peeling the onion, 20:33 there's a lot of systemic issues 20:35 that cause these problems 20:37 that have pretty much created 20:38 a monster in our communities 20:40 that, that people are really starting to step up to fix, 20:43 but we've got a long way to go, a long way to go. 20:45 Yes, absolutely. 20:47 You know, I've witnessed that 20:51 in certain inner city communities 20:53 where you go into grocery stores 20:54 and the produce is so old or wilted, 20:58 or, you know, just not good, 21:00 it's just, it's really appalling. 21:03 And, and yet there are liquor stores 21:05 on every corner, like you said, 21:06 so yeah, that, that has to be changed. 21:09 And I think that having products like yours 21:13 really can make a difference 21:14 because they're plant-based. 21:16 So people are going to get the fiber, 21:18 you know, from plants 21:20 through these good tasting foods. 21:23 So that's, that's really, really a blessing. 21:27 What is your company doing in terms of... 21:32 What's your vision for your company? 21:34 What are they doing in terms of jobs 21:37 and job creation and that kind of thing? 21:38 Yeah. 21:40 So as a company, you know, we all have to say our mission. 21:42 You know, we have a kind of a different couple of tiers 21:44 that we work under, but one of our major pieces is, 21:47 you know, to democratize the access of healthy foods. 21:50 So when it comes to the food deserts, 21:52 like you've mentioned earlier, we're advocating and education, 21:56 creating solutions to meet these needs. 21:58 That's one big pillar. 21:59 Job creation, 22:01 one of the biggest things you'll find, 22:02 especially within minority communities, 22:04 black and brown communities, 22:05 there's not an ownership in our communities. 22:08 And so when you think about even the food desert situation, 22:10 if there were companies that were owned by people 22:11 that look like the people in that community, 22:14 there will be a lot more care 22:15 about what they're putting out 22:16 when it comes to food choices and food solutions. 22:19 So, you know, one of the things that we're doing is, 22:21 you know, we're creating ownership. 22:22 So we have companies owned by people that look like me. 22:26 And what that comes to is that we also, 22:28 you'll find that people who look like me 22:30 are typically we would, we are more keen 22:32 to hire people from the community. 22:35 And so we have, you know, we just created in the last, 22:38 you know, year about 10 jobs through our local community. 22:42 You know, we're working with individuals 22:43 that might have a background 22:45 that some people might not want to hire those individuals, 22:47 but for us, 22:48 we want to give them a second, 22:50 give them a third, give them a fourth chance 22:52 and invest into them to be able to help them 22:55 to become what God has called them to be. 22:57 So this job creation piece is so critical. 22:59 We feel that this piece of creating jobs 23:02 and not just a job, but living wage jobs, 23:04 where they can earn a living and earn a livelihood 23:08 and learn a skill set 23:09 that can be a blessing for them for the long haul. 23:11 That's a very big piece of our business 23:14 that we're really fighting for. 23:16 Oh, I'm loving this. 23:18 I'm loving the idea that you are getting people 23:23 from within the community who needs skills, 23:26 who need to have certain marketable skills, 23:30 people who need another chance, excuse me. 23:34 And I feel like this is, 23:36 it's such an important piece of the puzzle, 23:40 but you're also educating them. 23:42 And I would imagine 23:43 that you're also including 23:45 a spiritual component in it as well. 23:49 You know, that's, that's a powerful thing 23:50 you just share. 23:52 You know, obviously I served as a pastor, 23:53 you know, for four or five years. 23:55 And so, you know, what's interesting is that, 23:57 you know, when Jesus, 23:59 you know when He ministered, 24:01 you know, He met the needs of the people, 24:03 you know, as the old statement that says 24:04 Christ method alone would bring true success. 24:06 He mingled with people, He ministered to their needs. 24:08 He won their confidence. 24:10 And so, what we're doing amazingly, 24:12 as we're creating jobs, 24:14 as we're working with these individuals, 24:16 they begin to access the why, 24:17 you know, why are we doing this? 24:19 What, you know, what's your inspiration? 24:21 And, you know, this, 24:23 when you were making our products, 24:24 you know, they ask some questions, 24:25 we bring up conversations about the Lord. 24:28 They, you know, we, you know, when sometimes a young man 24:30 might be going through something personal 24:32 and I'm like, 24:33 "Hey, let's pray, man. 24:34 Let's, just say a prayer about this." 24:36 And so it becomes a way where it's organically, 24:39 we're creating a relationship. 24:41 It is not a big, you know, we're not doing a big seminar. 24:44 We're just living in our community, 24:46 being a citizen in our local community 24:48 and loving on people. 24:49 And that relationship turns into a friendship, 24:52 that friendship turns into, 24:54 why do you do what you do? 24:56 Why do you, you know, go to church? 24:57 You know, then it's like, okay, I go to church on Saturday. 25:00 Well, why do you go to church on Saturday? 25:01 You know, it is, it's an organic 25:04 way of ministering, you know, in our communities. 25:07 It's about creating jobs, loving on people. 25:09 And God does, so He does the work. 25:11 He does. He does the work. 25:12 And it's as easy from there, you know? 25:14 Yes. 25:15 It's a beautiful thing, that is so beautiful. 25:18 So how can people access you? 25:22 How can they get you? 25:23 We have your website, 25:25 how can they get these foods out? 25:27 I'm actually, I'm wanting some right now, myself. 25:30 So I want to find out 25:32 how we can get hold of some of these foods? 25:35 Absolutely. 25:36 Well, right now, as, you know, manufacturing, 25:38 our product is a frozen product. 25:40 So we're shipping across the entire country 25:43 is something that's not easy to do. 25:45 So right now we're based primarily 25:47 in the West Coast. 25:49 We have different small pockets like 25:51 in the Texas area that we sell to, 25:52 but primarily all of the West Coast, 25:54 you can get our products. 25:56 If you go to somethingbetterfoods.com 25:58 there's, you can pretty much see a map 26:00 of where we have our products located. 26:03 You could also go to another website 26:05 where it features our better chew products, 26:06 eatbetterchew.com 26:08 You'll be able to also see 26:10 where the products are actually located. 26:11 And so, definitely go online and see the products. 26:14 You can go to IG or Instagram@BetterChew 26:19 That's where all of the updates 26:20 as we expand our products across the country, 26:23 there people would be able to see 26:25 how we're growing, where are we going to be at? 26:27 But our goal is to be nationwide in the next, 26:30 you know, 24 months. 26:31 That's the prayer, that's the vision, 26:33 that's the mission. 26:34 It's not easy. 26:36 It's a very expensive business 26:37 that I'm in to ship nationwide, 26:38 but we know God has it all in His hands in His timing. 26:41 That's right. That's right. 26:42 And I think, I don't think it would hurt 26:45 for people to contact their local whole foods 26:48 and tell them that they want that those products 26:50 in their whole foods I would think. 26:54 Yes. Yes. 26:55 Yes, absolutely. 26:57 Do you have in 30 seconds or less, 26:58 do you have a closing thought for our viewers? 27:02 You know, I don't want to curse somebody out there. 27:04 You know, I'm an entrepreneur, as well as you know, 27:07 I'm a Christian and I've been a pastor, 27:09 so want to courage, you know, anybody that's in there 27:12 and their passion in life, 27:13 you know, that passion in life, 27:14 whether it's food, whether it's outreach, 27:16 whether it's, you know, a mental health coach, 27:19 whatever your calling is, 27:21 just know that God can take you places 27:23 you never thought you could go. 27:24 And let the Holy Spirit is working inside of you 27:27 and watch him do what he does. 27:28 Oh, thank you. 27:29 Thank you so much for being with us. 27:31 We really appreciate you in all that you do. 27:34 We appreciate the journey that you shared with us. 27:37 We appreciate the foods that you have come up 27:41 with that we know the Lord has impressed you with. 27:43 And my dear viewers, we appreciate you. 27:46 Thank you so much for being with us. 27:48 Make sure to join us next time, because you know what? 27:52 It absolutely positively 27:54 wouldn't be the same without you. |
Revised 2021-08-02