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Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (P.S.)

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Author Barbara Kingsolver and her family abandoned the industrial-food pipeline to live a rural life—vowing that, for one year, they’d only buy food raised in their own neighborhood, grow it themselves, or learn to live without it. Part memoir, part journalistic investigation, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is an enthralling narrative that will open your eyes in a hundred new ways to an old truth: You are what you eat.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle -
This book will change the way you look at food and shopping. I think it should be read by all that cook and shop since it brings to light the way our food is grown, prepared and shipped. It explores so many angles in the production of food and it is interesting! I now look for locally grown food whereever I shop, and try to buy organic when I can.

YOU'LL LOOK AT (AND LOVE) FOOD IN A NEW WAY -
This is one of those books that has the power to change your life and make you look at the world in a new way.

Rather skeptical at first, I became deeply moved about halfway through "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle." Barbara Kingsolver presents many compelling reasons to change the way we eat and to enhance our relationship with food -- not the least of which are infinitely better taste and nutrition. Other reasons are concern for the environment, struggling farmers, and people living in poverty the world over.

I wouldn't want to rely on my own skill and labor to produce the majority of my own food. Kingsolver shows the time, energy, perseverance, knowledge, and good luck needed to grow food for oneself. The result may be delicious, but easy it ain't.

Yet the author did succeed in altering my purchasing decisions. I've already started buying organic produce -- my first organic carrot was orgiastically delicious, making conventional carrots taste like little more than crunchy water in comparison. I've researched which fruits and vegetables grow in North Carolina, and when. I've found a farmer's market that's open year round so I can buy local products. I've made a few new recipes from scratch (and I'm no cook!). And I'm going to start a tiny garden in the spring -- only two or three vegetables, but just the thought of doing so makes me feel giddily self-reliant.

Vegetarians must be forewarned that the Kingsolvers are meat eaters and do raise their own animals for food. Yet I couldn't help but compare the lives of their farm animals to those in horrific factory farm conditions. (The story of a female turkey learning to be a mother was beautiful.) For people who eat meat, Kingsolver clearly shows an ethical option -- and that's to purchase flesh that comes from an animal who ate a natural diet and lived a healthy, happy life ... outdoors.

Vegetarians and omnivores alike will learn some important things from this book, and will likely make different food choices before they've finished reading.

Common Sense still exist... -
This is a terrific book and so far has been a joy to read. It points out the shortcomings that as humans we have created, yet at the same time offers solutions that are so simple. Maybe if we packaged seeds and growing our own food with a remote control or some new techno gadget, people might get interested?

Pretentious and preachy -
I really wanted to like this book. I agree with the author in that as a culture we've clearly gotten out of touch with living off the land and have become a fast food society. But I struggled to even get through the first chapter. The tone of the book is much too preachy and pretentious giving it a "holier than thou" feel. It's hard to get past that.

You Take the Good, You Take the Bad -
I'm only halfway through Kingsolver's book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, so it's possible I will have a skewed opinion.

Anyway, Kingsolver opened my eyes to the plight of America's food problem. I'd heard of things like HFCS (high fructose corn syrup), but I'd never given it much thought. I sure will now. I appreciated her discourses about the garden, the cheesemaking, etc. The information about transportation costs, etc. given in the sidebars by Steven Hopp was excellent. I will, without a doubt, make many considerations in regards to our family's eating habits.

Kingsolver's critics here accuse her of being preachy, uppity, and condescending. Usually, that's the allegation people make when they know someone is right. Welcome to America, 21st century...someone points out our faults, we get defensive and point right back. Fortunately for Kingsolver, she's got the facts and proof to back up her righteousness.

That said, let's not gloss over the fact that Kingsolver is a best-selling writer and her husband (Hopp) is a professor at a nearby university. They have the luxury of money and time. The bottom levels on their hierarchy of needs have been met...exceedingly. It stands to reason that they can now consider their spiritual, moral, mental needs and venture into this realm of life change.

Most of us, however, don't have that kind of access. Most of us work full-time jobs outside of the home and try to tackle parenting, housecleaning, social, and fiscal duties in those small hours between five and ten o' clock in the evening. I already feel guilty because my kids are in too many activities or too few, piles of laundry are a constant, and my husband and I don't always get the Date Night we need. Now I'm supposed to feel guilty because I'm not eating free-range chickens?

It's not high on my list of priorities right now. It might be someday when my kids are out of the house or I can sustainably work at home, working only five or six hours a day. In addition to this, I also think I'm doomed to failure because I don't have the resources Kingsolver has. She's got farmer friends all over the country, she's throwing a birthday party for dozens of people, and a caterer friend is helping with an all-local, all-natural menu, and she's been doing some of this organic stuff for years. Not me.

Honestly, the message is good. It's a catalyst for change. However, Kingsolver loses some of her message on people who simply are not in the position she is in.