Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
4.5 out of 5: This book documents Kingsolver’s commitment to live off the local land for one year. During the commitment year, Kingsolver, her husband, and her two daughters tended a garden and raised chickens and turkeys on their small farm in Virginia. The family supplemented their food stores with trips to the local farmers’ market and with a few, strictly limited, non-local items (like coffee and olive oil). I enjoyed this charming account of the seasonality of produce, the work required to harvest and prepare fresh foods, and the family’s enjoyment of their time spent on the land. Although I’m not the slightest bit tempted to plant a garden or raise livestock after reading this book, Kingsolver has a convincing argument, and I have been persuaded to begin buying produce and meat from local farmers. I highly recommend this book if you’re interested in the food economy, the environment, or nutrition.
1 comment:
Having enjoyed several of Kingsolver's novels, I picked this one up on a whim. I was amazed to find that this book is perhaps one of the very few I've ever read that actualy - to use the far overused phrase-"changed my life" in the sense that this book had a lasting impact on my daily behavior. For something I do 3-4 times a day- I never thought about food and where it comes from. Yes I planted a small garden, and enjoyed yummy fresh food from it and I gained an understanding of what it takes to make food worth eating. I take my own resusebale bags to the store, I don't buy bottled water, shop at the farmer's market- etc. Best of all- the book is not "preachy"- you can enjoy the writing while happily munching fast food and that's ok too. This one was a true eye opener.
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