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another one of those food books that i love to read. exactly what i wanted it to be. makes me sad that i don't frequent the farmers market like i used to. but would it really make sense to drive to them, now that i am no longer in walking distance? doesn't that really just defeat the purposes of "local"?


nileimaj's review

5.0

What a wonderful book! Interesting, educational, inspirational, and maybe even life changing... also funny and delightful. I wish I had read this while still living on the farm -- perhaps I would have gotten more involved in the daily aspects of farm life, instead of just eating lots of ridiculously good free-range eggs, composting, and feeding the pigs my kitchen scraps and the birds stale bread. I've never been interested in gardening in my life. I've killed every plant I've ever owned, except for my cactus. But after reading this, I want to plant vegetables -- tomatoes, cabbages, potatoes, asparagus, squash... everything! I want to know what these items are supposed to taste like. I want to raise hens. I want to learn how to can and pickle. I just finished reading this, so now I'm copying recipes out of the book, researching local farmers' markets and CSAs, bemoaning my miniscule unemployed person food budget, and contemplating buying multiple copies of this book to give to everyone I know as a Christmas present. That's how much I liked it, and that's how important I think it is.

I’ve had this sitting on my shelf for years and finally got around to reading it. Amazing! So much great information about the benefits of eating local, organic food, about knowing where your food comes from, and the problem of big agriculture. At the same time, Kingsolver’s writing was still very poetic in the descriptions of the day to day happenings at the farm. This book made me want to be more intentional with choosing where my food comes from. I even did a taste test to compare a carrot from a supermarket to a carrot from a small, organic farm. Guess which one tasted better? There really is a huge difference!

There was much I loved about this book. I found inspiration for my eating, my parenting, and my daily choices and the rhythm of life they create. I laughed heartily at her descriptions of Lily’s poultry business, her farm-nerd Tuscan vacation, and her own tribulations with horny or non-maternal turkeys. I do wish Kingsolver more critically examined the whiteness of her perspective — the cringeworthy blitheness with which she ignores Native American contributions to Thanksgiving, her ease in talking about how rural communities might accept outsiders (much more of a safety concern for people of color, or visibly queer people, considering relocation) — but perhaps that’s too much to ask of a book of this era, even if it’s not so very long ago? Or perhaps it isn’t, in which case, shame.

bethwidcapo's review

5.0

Eat local! Eat seasonal! Some good recipes
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colleen_parks's review

3.0

This is the story of how Kingsolver and her family moved to a small farm in VA and ate only locally-grown foods (their own, mostly) for a year. I found the gardening parts interesting, but overall the book is kind of preachy and a bit too long. It’s preachy mainly in the sense that it provides some partial explanation of how the American food system is broken, but chances are that a lot of readers already know that (the book is a few years old now) and are likely familiar with some of the other more central books of the genre. Nonetheless, it includes some recipes and some general info that's pretty interesting and I'd give it a cautious recommendation to people interested in food, locavore, and/or gardening books with the side note that it’s easily skimmable.

kimbabooks's review

4.0

Most of us are very ignorant of where our food comes from, what's "in season" and what all this has to do with other issues such as economics, ecology, and justice. Barbara Kingsolver makes it interesting and enjoyable (and motivating) to learn more about this topic.
funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted fast-paced
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thatkellylynnegirl's review

4.0

I liked the writing and how she tried to locally source her food. I also liked that they didn't lie about it being a challenge of what to grow and when and of how her family did complain when they started the project. It made it much more relatable.

mydirtydumbeyes's review

2.0

This book was condescending and irritating.