My SK alt (and until recently my Monk main) uses a Stone of Defiance charm, which gives quite nice stats if he's hungry enough. But if he gets too hungry, he loses his innate mana regen (even meditating). (The monk lost endurance regen.) Though the new out-of-combat regen rules make this less of a problem, it's still a nuisance, so I prefer to eat a piece of food occasionally when I notice I've gotten too hungry.
Bugging other party members for a piece of food often works, but isn't always convenient. So I learned Baking and starting carrying a Spit, along with some non-edible items that I could turn into food when I wanted something to eat. (Filleted Lion is my current meal. At least it's more appetising than Edible Goo.) But last night someone told me about this crystal, so now I'm going to try using it to summon food as needed. That effectively gives me 5 more inventory slots. (Instead of a six-slot spit with two slots filled, I can get a 10-slot bag and use one slot for the crystal.)