Preparing for winter is a time-consuming task it's true; canning, freezing, drying, and preparing proper root storage will eat up days in the fall. But on a cold rainy September or October day standing in the kitchen with the fruits (or vegetables as the case may be) of your labour and imagining how much better they are going to taste than anything store bought can make even the nastiest job seem pretty attractive.
In Animal, Vegetable, Miracle Barbara Kingsolver, with an assist from her husband Steven Hopp and her daughter Camille Kingsolver, have put together answers to all the arguments we all have been able to come up with about living a sustainable life. It's too expensive, it's too time-consuming, and the food is so boring are all rebutted with a mixture of facts and anecdote.
Barbara has the zeal of a missionary but it is tempered with the soul of an artist and a woman who raised a child by herself. Not only does she advocate the lifestyle and share its wonders, she also has reams of practical advice on how it can be achieved no matter what your financial situation. Most of us don't have the options of raising our own livestock, or even growing our own vegetables like her family, but we probably all have access to a farmers' market where the produce from vegetable to meat is local.
This is a well-written, fun, entertaining, depressing and optimistic book all at once. It's depressing to realize that while the government on one hand is telling us to eat a balanced diet they are propping up an industry that grows only two crops, both of which make up the lion's share of all pre-packaged food sold, The optimism comes from knowing that we can make a difference in our own lives and that we don't have to play by their rules.
If we are what we eat I would rather come from Barbara Kingsolver's garden or its equivalent than the shelves of my local grocery store.
Article comments
1 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net , which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States, and to Boston.com. Nice work!
2 - Ben Boelman
As a seventy-seven-year-old male who was born and raised on a farm in Iowa, I found "Animal, . . ." mildly interesting. I did feel that the discourse was rather condescending and "preachery".