Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life

Written by Barbara Kingsolver, with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver

This book describes the Kingsolver-Hopp family's decision to move from Tuscon to the farm they own in Virginia and try to live off what they can produce, and anything within a 120 mile radius for one year. The basic point for them is eating fruits and vegetables in their growing season and storing the surplus for the winter, eating meats and dairy products that come from pasture fed animals to avoid any inadvertent exposure to harmful elements or disease, promoting the re-introduction of heirloom breeds of seeds and animals, having a positive impact on the environment by purchasing foods with minimal fuel expenditures for transportation as well as being grown in an environmentally responsible way, and supporting small farm operations in the community by shopping and eating at establishments that sell or use locally grown produce, meats and dairy products.

So that's the stuffy summary. The book is anything but! As one reviewer wrote, "One wants with all one's heart to sit with [Kingsolver] on the porch at the end of the day and shell peas." What the book did for me was propel me to make some of those ch-ch-changes DanaLee talked about. I used to can fruit and make jam and freeze vegetables. When I realized it was cheaper to buy it, I quit going to the trouble of doing it myself. This book reminded me that there is such an advantage to eating food within a few days from it being harvested, the extra cost is well worth the rewards to my health, as well as my community. I am a conservation nut, so the idea of not using fuel resources to ship a product across the country that I can purchase farm fresh fifteen minutes from my house is very appealing. My daughter was in Guatemala for several summers. I was talking to her on Skype one day and told her I bought a cantelope from Guatemala and was happy to be helping the farmers there. She told me that large American corporations had come into the country and bought out many of the farms. It was causing the smaller farms to go under when they couldn't compete. Not good. I was also unhappy with the news of seeds being sold to third world countries that were being touted as the end all to poor health because of being genetically enhanced with additives, but were not able to reproduce after the initial harvest. Those farming with this product were forced to buy seed each year. Don't get me started about the patents on these seeds. But I rant on! The book covers these issues very well, and what can be done.

The joy of reading this book is the wonder of plants growing from seeds to harvest, how to eat simply and make preparing a meal a happy time, how good it feels to finally finish canning all those tomatoes (or freezing vegetables) and having the stocked shelves and better things to eat as a result. I love Kingsolver's writing style. (I absolutely adore the last paragraph of the book.)My biggest "ah hah" moment was the Vegetannual. I can't draw the picture here but you can find it at http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/. It's right there on the home page. It's a "plant" that shows you the growing season in a very practical way so you can know what's coming up next. There are so many wonderful revelations in each chapter of this book. It's something you have to experience for yourself because it will resonate differently depending on your own food experiences. I didn't realize this book was so controversial until it was brought up at my book club. Oh my! To be controversial was not the intent. The authors state at the end that this was their year of food life, and whatever we can glean from it will be good. I may still be eating bananas and buying grapes from Chile in the winter, but I am also supporting my local farmers by planning my meals around what is seasonally available more than what is shipped in. I'm going to make jam, and can peaches and tomatoes, and freeze vegies! I started my new food habits in a dead growing time, just like they did. I am very excited to watch my selection grow at the Farmer's Market, just as they enjoyed watching their seeds begin to grow. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Enjoy it for yourself!