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Laura Elkins was highlighted in JVC Magazine as a Former Jesuit Volunteer, donor, and "the kitchen queen," having cooked meals at retreats for many years. She elaborates on how food plays into her everyday life.

Community is a big deal to our family, among the four of us and in reaching out to those around us. Community usually happens over a meal. Cooking for JVC helped me reflect on this a lot. As Catholics, we celebrate the Eucharist every Sunday. One of the most important parts of that is coming to the table and sharing. In our day-to-day lives, sitting down to share a meal can mean more than putting a quarter in a cup or giving away blankets. It’s sharing something intimate and having to stop and listen. Some of our best family conversations have been around the table.

We have a set of dinner game cards that we use to start conversations. Mike, a current JV in LeDroit Park, was over and he answered questions like, “What was your favorite meal you ever had?” and “What relative would you like to share a meal with and why?” My kids love hearing those stories and we learned a lot from Mike by asking just a few simple questions.

Food and justice are really hard issues because it’s complicated by finances. I think a lot about what it would be like if I lived on a very limited budget. If a mother only had $5 to feed her kids and milk cost $3.50 but a bottle of orange pop was 99 cents, I can see how she may be more likely to choose the pop if it meant having a drink. It’s hard for low-income people to think about food the way a fairly privileged person can.

I think it’s also a complicated issue because food is connected to so many other things – you really can’t help people tackle the bigger issues if their most basic needs are not met. Good food is a very basic need.

I didn’t struggle with food issues when I was in JVC the way that I do now. We began looking at food differently when we moved into our house and started gardening. Now sometimes our life feels really complicated by the work we put into choosing what we eat, but at the same time it also feels more wholesome. We’re not sustainable by any means but we do consume everything we grow and we make a big effort to think ahead. In the winter, we’re buying seeds and planning for when we can start planting.

It’s really become a social justice issue for us. We’re trying to be good to the place that we’ve been given and not use more resources than we need to. Sometimes it’s a little awkward because when many people think of social justice, they think of going to a protest or doing organizing work. But the reality is that if we’re not doing justice to the land, there won’t be much left for us in 50 and 60 years.