Blessings before eating

The world is a temple, and food is Divine, as long as you bless its Creator before eating or drinking.

One verse says, "The earth belongs to God and everything in it," while another says, "The heavens belong to God, but the earth He has given to humankind." The Talmud posits a clear contradiction: either the earth belongs to God (according to the first verse) or to human beings (according to the second). The Talmudic explanation is that the first verse refers to a moment before reciting a blessing, while the second verse refers to a moment after a blessing has already been recited.

This is one of the foundations for which our sages established as a rabbinic mitzvah to say blessings when one has a benefit from this world.

Basically speaking, a blessing removes an object from Divine domain to place it under the domain of the person who wishes to benefit from it.

There are different types of blessings; the one mentioned refers to what in Hebrew is called bircat haneenim - blessings of those who benefit.

Each meal has its specific blessing, but they all begin the same way: "Blessed are You, God, our Lord, King of the Universe...", and continue in one of the following ways:

1. For the fruit of the tree: "who creates the fruit of the tree""
2. For vegetables or fruits of a plant (such as pineapple and banana): "who creates the fruit of the earth.".
3. If the food was made with flour, barley, oats, spelt or rye, but is not bread: "which creates different types of food.".
4. If it is bread: "He who brings forth bread from the earth.".
5. If it is wine (or grape juice): "that is the fruit of the vine.".
6. Everything else (meat, dairy, etc.): "that everything was created with His word.".