Farming for Health Podcast #25: Jason Wange

Jason Wange was born into the foodservice industry. His grandfather sold flatware and tableware while his father became a distributor in Pennsylvania and then Miami, Florida before becoming a manufacturing rep in Denver, Colorado. So, by the age of eight, Jason was already busy polishing kettles and silverware.

Before Jason entered the industry, though, he first became educated as a history/social studies teacher, working in that field for eight years before joining his father’s firm in 2008 and repping culinary equipment and supplies. Jason ultimately bought the company, running it for twelve years before the family experienced health problems and he needed to get a fresh start.

It was during a ten-week period during COVID that he started in his new direction. Because of the pandemic, like many other people, Jason was not working. Ever since his twenties—when he’d needed to deal with anxiety and depression—he had focused on his own personal development to change a life of fear into one where he made meaningful connections.  

Then, because of the boredom he felt when isolated during the pandemic, Jason began making and emailing five-minute videos on helpful topics. One example: the importance of laughter and how it creates endorphins that allow you to have a better outlook on life. He created forty of these videos and, after talking to a friend who talked about being lonely, Jason started an organization called the Foodservice Powerplant Network where he shares positive mindset tools and provides a sense of community where people can connect. 

Jason also interviews industry leaders for his podcast, highlighting their personal sides and encouraging them to share their challenges and hopeful messages about how to get through these difficult events. 

In sum, the three pillars of the Food Powerplant Network are as follows: the power of an encouraging community, positive mindset tools that can be learned to grow, and the sharing of authentic stories. 

For more about the story of Jason’s journey, listen to our Farming for Health podcast: Community, Self-Care, and Mindset Tools. 

Past Episodes of our Farming for Health Podcast

If you’ve missed any of our previous episodes, you can find them here:

• Episode One: Keto, Cruciferous Vegetables, Salt and Your Mindset
• Episode Two: Cooking, Conviviality, and Preserving the Harvest
• Episode Three: Ferments, Food Insecurity, and Wasted Food
• Episode Four: Anti-Cancer Diet, Food as Medicine, and Vegetables
• Episode Five: Plants, Happiness and Mindful Neglect.
• Episode Six: Whole 30, Sustainable Habits, and Loving Vegetables
• Episode Seven: Iodine, Egg Yolk Enzymes, and Miso
• Episode Eight: Fungi, Bitter Foods, and Food Extinction
• Episode Nine: Understanding Food, Nutritional Healing and Farming
• Episode Ten: Enjoying the Process, Connection and Soup
• Episode Eleven: Monica Geller, Community and Limiting Salads 
• Episode Twelve: Nourishment, Creativity, and Full-Spectrum Health
• Episode Thirteen: The Joy of Cooking, Fermentation, and Seasonality 
• Episode Fourteen: Cauliflower, Potlucks, and the Joy of Food
• Episode Fifteen: Time Savers, Pickled Raisins and Cooking With Creativity
• Episode Sixteen: Romanticizing Food, Seasonal Eating, and Shamed Spinach
• Episode Seventeen: Being Present, The Eat In Method and Food as Fuel
• Episode Eighteen: Regenerative Grazing, Monarchs and Voting with Your Dollar 
• Episode Nineteen: Childhood Injustice, Soil Health, and Relationship with Nature
• Episode Twenty: Yoga, Climate Changes, and Creating a Livable Future
• Episode Twenty-One: Understanding the Soul, Flow State, and Finding Your Purpose
• Episode Twenty-Two: Regenerative Food Systems, Food Sheds, and Resiliency 
• Episode Twenty-Three: Leaning In: Culinary Trends and the Power of Teaching
• Episode Twenty-Four: Mentorship, Self-Care, and Hospitality