What is the philosophical meaning behind the statement 'Food is the form of Para-Brahman' as explained in Chapter 38?

In Chapter 38, the statement 'Food is the form of Para-Brahman' elevates the act of food donation from a simple charitable deed to a profound spiritual practice. The chapter elaborates on this by explaining that all beings are born from food, are sustained by food, and ultimately merge back into food at the end of their lives. By equating food with the Supreme Reality (Para-Brahman), the text suggests that participating in the giving of food is to participate in the divine cycle of life and sustenance itself. This philosophical standpoint is used to argue why Annadan is the 'highest secret for quenching hunger' and the 'merit among merits.' As Chapter 38 illustrates with analogies, just as a necklace is incomplete without a pendant, other forms of charity are incomplete without the donation of food, precisely because food is so fundamentally linked to the divine essence of existence.