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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
While a bit dated (locavore was a new term), the monthly check-ins by the family on growing, harvesting, and cooking (recipes? yes!) from the earth foodstuff is a delight. Sometimes preachy and speechy, but overall a good reminder on earth based living.
Just not my time to read it...I wanted to like it but it was a little repetitive.
I have some political quibbles with this book, especially Kingsolver's lack of attention to race and faith in personal decisions, rather than mass organizing. However, it was pleasure to read and transformed my thinking.
I first read this book when it came out in 2007 shortly before graduating with my bachelor's in environmental studies in urban planning. I've always been interested in agroecology and sustainable agriculture, even if I was moving to Los Angeles. After a handful of jobs and settling into my career as an environmental planner, and finally having a yard to plant things in, I was inspired to reread this book. It really does a good job of explaining the environmental impact of the food we eat, food transport, and ways to reduce that impact. I'm glad I participate in a local farm box, but I'm inspired to start growing a little bit more of what I consume and remembering to consume more local foods as much as possible. This book also covers processed foods, farm bills and food funding, food availability, preserving and canning, pickling, all wrapped into the author's tale of the year of producing her own food. For anyone wanting to learn more about farming practices in the United States this book is informative even to apartment dwellers who want to do a better job of eating more environmentally friendly.
I really, really like Barbara Kingsolver's novels. Her short stories can be a fun read, but increasingly, she's getting a little preachy with her earth awareness subject matter. I'm not saying the earth as a whole shouldn't be brought to the forefront, it's terribly important that it be sustained so that the rest of us can continue to survive and thrive. I do love the idea of sustainable gardening and living, and that's about all I can do. I'm a working mother with a household, a husband, and pets, with no staff (!) so the thought of growing, canning, and storing my own food was a little daunting.
I wanted to like this book, but I felt that the essays were prosthletizing and aimed to make me feel bad about my choices unless they were 100% local, not packed in plastic, and in some cases, running around my back-yard writing letters of complatint to my representatives. I live in a small state where I am surrounded by the animals that give me my dairy products, I drive past the place where my eggs come from, and I patronize my local farmer's market (and sometimes Co-Op when I am feeling flush). I don't have time in my day to do huge gardens and the weeding that comes with said gardens, and can't kill and process my own meat.
If it sounds like I'm complaining, well, maybe I am a little. On the upside: the recipes in this book sound delicious, and I did get some good ideas for future gardening and cooking endeavors. They just aren't going to happen now.
I wanted to like this book, but I felt that the essays were prosthletizing and aimed to make me feel bad about my choices unless they were 100% local, not packed in plastic, and in some cases, running around my back-yard writing letters of complatint to my representatives. I live in a small state where I am surrounded by the animals that give me my dairy products, I drive past the place where my eggs come from, and I patronize my local farmer's market (and sometimes Co-Op when I am feeling flush). I don't have time in my day to do huge gardens and the weeding that comes with said gardens, and can't kill and process my own meat.
If it sounds like I'm complaining, well, maybe I am a little. On the upside: the recipes in this book sound delicious, and I did get some good ideas for future gardening and cooking endeavors. They just aren't going to happen now.
Great book! love the project that they did; reminded me of my childhood (growing a lot of our own food and having our own herd of animals for food~
In Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver presents loads of information on organic food/farming versus gigantic corporate farms while somehow managing to stay (mostly) off the soapbox. Since reading this book, I took the time to get to know the produce manager at my commissary and he (Robert) gave me a three page list of local farms offering organic foods. He hesitated slightly saying, "Of course, they may cost a bit more..." and I quickly assured him that I am firmly on the boat that a few pennies will certainly come around to the overall wellness of my family. After that, Robert enthusiastically pointed out a few places on the list that would be the best places to start. Beyond the food aspect, it was also a great encounter because I live in England and Robert is English; my simple request for information and desire to support HIS local farmers immediately bridged a cultural gap wherein American military members are viewed as rotating pariahs that drain community resources. I owe the experience and wherever it takes me and my family in the future entirely to this book.