Yep, I'm the girl who used to order meat-lover's pizza.

Hi, I'm Jessica. The story of Eden + Me is my story.

Food has always been my passion.

As a college student, I would bake to maintain my sanity and shared the goods with my professors. (A banana bread supposedly gave me the favor I needed to split time between conflicting courses. Here's a shoutout to Dr. Kim!)

Having completed both a master's and doctoral doctoral degree in theology and primed to enter academia or publishing, food continues to move me, body and soul.

It got me thinking: What if I could combine my love for teaching with my love of food?

I'm living proof that anyone can fall in love with plants.

With Eden + Me, that's essentially what I did.

The more I learned about nutrition and planetary stewardship, the more I was convinced my food choices had to reflect what I was learning.

I became increasingly more plant based in my own eating, swapping lentils, mushrooms, and tofu for meat and significantly reducing my intake of dairy and eggs.

Moreover, as a creative, both recipe development and cooking are natural outflows of who I am. They are also beautiful gifts I have to share with a hungry world. Add to that my passions for beauty and justice, and we have a powerful package for inspiration and making change in the world.

Having glimpsed the vital role food plays in human and planetary health, I want to help others make similar changes sustainably.

We do things differently around here.

Pursue both personal and planetary health in a gentle, sustainable way.

(Oh, and did I mention delicious?)

This is the WHAT.

We didn’t make the world, but it’s been left in our hands. What will we do with it? The task has been given to us to be wise and kind stewards of both the earth and of our own bodies (you and me).

Stewardship

This is the HOW.

Your pace is your pace

There are no deadlines, there is no expected timeline for how long it “should” get you from “here” to “there.” The goal here is sustainable progress, so you can take it as slowly as you need. This is your journey.

Forget the labels

Don’t stress about what to call yourself. While some may have goals to become fully vegan, others are content to go vegetarian, or some version of flexitarian. Instead of focusing on what we don’t eat, we emphasize and celebrate wins in eating a diversity of whole plant foods.

Grace for you + for others

Many of you may be cooking for and eating with a family along your journey. Some of you may be teaming up with some friends and supporting one another through it. Don’t let “perfect” become the enemy of the good.

Grace

For the good of all.

This is the WHY.

By eating more plant based, we care for ourselves, for other humans, and for the whole earth and all we share it with. (And not just now—also for those to come.) We love our neighbors—both human and otherwise—by not making our food decisions solely based on what will satisfy our cravings. Rather, we consider the global impact that our food choices have on things like climate change, treatment of animals, pollution, deforestation, over-fishing, destructive farming practices, and so much more.

Good

Let's get started.

Now that you know a bit about me, it's time for me to work with YOU. Want to get cooking? Check out the Recipes for inspiration and kitchen guidance. Want to learn more? Listen to the Eating for Eden podcast. Want to work with me directly? Drop me a line on the Contact page.

Recipes

Podcast

Contact