review: animal, vegetable, miracle
lately I've been on a foodie reading spree. my personal interests in vegetable gardening and living lightly led me to barbara kingsolver's book animal, vegetable, miracle. our friend russ, who owns the easy chair bookstore, bought john and I this book as our housewarming present. he knows what I like to read and this was the perfect gift. here's why:
kingsolver and her family live in southwestern virginia, near abingdon, on a family farm. previously they lived in tucson, az, but decided to move east and live off the land. as a family they decide to go a full year eating nothing but food that they grew or their neighbors grew. basically the 100-mile diet, if you're familiar with that, but I didn't get the impression that they had any idea that diet existed when they made their pact. the book is written in calendar form, by month for the most part, which each month featuring a vegetal mainstay; some chapters discuss their adventures with meat, eggs and cheese. throughout the book her husband steven hopp adds in blurbs about whatever topic is being discussed in the particular chapter. these blurbs are well researched and usually recommend a website or organization to check out for more information. her daughter camille, a 20-something attending duke university writes about nutrition, adds recipes mentioned in the chapters and menu plans they used during their year of eating locally. her young perspective into the diet is really interesting. although I must admit if I had met a person like her when I was around 20 years I probably would have thought she was weird. :)
the tone of the book is conversational. I often felt like I was in their kitchen with them, talking with barbara and watching her put up food, or helping them in the garden. on vegetables, their production and consumption I felt like barbara could be me in 25 years. I really enjoyed reading about their chickens and turkeys, how they raised them and "harvested them," and appreciated her opinions on eating meat in general. if I ever began to eat meat again it would be this way, from neighbors farms or my own animals (although I still think it would be impossible for me to slaughter my own chicken! I had to respect her ability to don the blood-stained sneakers.) her family makes a few sensible choices concerning things that just do not completely come from virginia, olive oil and some flours for instance. she discusses food calories versus food miles (better than I could) which basically pits how much nutrition you gain from eating a particular food against how many miles it had to travel (burning fossil fuels along the way) to reach your plate. for instance consider the potassium content of the banana, undoubtedly from miles and miles away compared to that of the lowly potato, which can grow in your backyard.
her book was inspirational to me, showing me that all of my needs could certainly come from my neighborhood without having to make crazy sacrifices. back when john was attempting the 100-mile diet I was appauled at some of the things we wouldn't be able to eat, but now it seems much less scary. even making a good portion of our diets local would be very simple. not only do we have a great farmer's market here but now we have more land and more space for a vegetable garden. canning is something that I enjoy and with our garage we have the space to store more jars and maybe even winter over things like pumpkins and squishes. we are blessed with wonderful virginia wines and john can brew great beer. the notion of eating more locally has moved beyond "hippie fantasy" into something tangible and real. any efforts, even the small ones, matter.
as far as recommending this book, here's what I say. if you have ever participated in the food chain (basically, everyone alive at this moment) you owe it to yourself and to your community to read this book. eating locally is an inexpensive and easy way to combat the ugly sides of food production in this country. it helps small farmers and it helps your health. buying locally produced meat is a big middle finger toward the factory farming industry. purchasing food when it's in season at the market increases the freshness and value of nutrition you consume and reduces our need on fossil fuels to transport fruits and veggies across the country (or from other countries). it's incredible how easy it can be to support something so good for us and for our communities. give this book a try and attend your next farmer's market. I doubt you would regret it.
kingsolver and her family live in southwestern virginia, near abingdon, on a family farm. previously they lived in tucson, az, but decided to move east and live off the land. as a family they decide to go a full year eating nothing but food that they grew or their neighbors grew. basically the 100-mile diet, if you're familiar with that, but I didn't get the impression that they had any idea that diet existed when they made their pact. the book is written in calendar form, by month for the most part, which each month featuring a vegetal mainstay; some chapters discuss their adventures with meat, eggs and cheese. throughout the book her husband steven hopp adds in blurbs about whatever topic is being discussed in the particular chapter. these blurbs are well researched and usually recommend a website or organization to check out for more information. her daughter camille, a 20-something attending duke university writes about nutrition, adds recipes mentioned in the chapters and menu plans they used during their year of eating locally. her young perspective into the diet is really interesting. although I must admit if I had met a person like her when I was around 20 years I probably would have thought she was weird. :)
the tone of the book is conversational. I often felt like I was in their kitchen with them, talking with barbara and watching her put up food, or helping them in the garden. on vegetables, their production and consumption I felt like barbara could be me in 25 years. I really enjoyed reading about their chickens and turkeys, how they raised them and "harvested them," and appreciated her opinions on eating meat in general. if I ever began to eat meat again it would be this way, from neighbors farms or my own animals (although I still think it would be impossible for me to slaughter my own chicken! I had to respect her ability to don the blood-stained sneakers.) her family makes a few sensible choices concerning things that just do not completely come from virginia, olive oil and some flours for instance. she discusses food calories versus food miles (better than I could) which basically pits how much nutrition you gain from eating a particular food against how many miles it had to travel (burning fossil fuels along the way) to reach your plate. for instance consider the potassium content of the banana, undoubtedly from miles and miles away compared to that of the lowly potato, which can grow in your backyard.
her book was inspirational to me, showing me that all of my needs could certainly come from my neighborhood without having to make crazy sacrifices. back when john was attempting the 100-mile diet I was appauled at some of the things we wouldn't be able to eat, but now it seems much less scary. even making a good portion of our diets local would be very simple. not only do we have a great farmer's market here but now we have more land and more space for a vegetable garden. canning is something that I enjoy and with our garage we have the space to store more jars and maybe even winter over things like pumpkins and squishes. we are blessed with wonderful virginia wines and john can brew great beer. the notion of eating more locally has moved beyond "hippie fantasy" into something tangible and real. any efforts, even the small ones, matter.
as far as recommending this book, here's what I say. if you have ever participated in the food chain (basically, everyone alive at this moment) you owe it to yourself and to your community to read this book. eating locally is an inexpensive and easy way to combat the ugly sides of food production in this country. it helps small farmers and it helps your health. buying locally produced meat is a big middle finger toward the factory farming industry. purchasing food when it's in season at the market increases the freshness and value of nutrition you consume and reduces our need on fossil fuels to transport fruits and veggies across the country (or from other countries). it's incredible how easy it can be to support something so good for us and for our communities. give this book a try and attend your next farmer's market. I doubt you would regret it.