Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
current mood: curious
I'm reading novelist Barbara Kingsolver's memoir, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I'm not even halfway through the book yet, so this is based on an incomplete reading. But so far I'm finding it to be an intriguing and well-written book about a year-long experiment in sustainable eating that she and her family undertook. (Don't worry; I'm not including in any spoilers here.)
Kingsolver, her husband, and her two daughters moved from their home in non-food-producing Tucson to a small farm they owned in the mountains of Virginia. There, they grew and raised much of their own food and bought most of the rest from local farmers. With a few exceptions, they chose to eat only food from local sources. They did it out of concern for the amount of energy consumed by processing, packaging, and transporting most of the food we eat; out of outrage at the long-reaching implications of the commercialization of the food-producing industry; and for the better taste and nutrition of produce grown locally from seeds that have not been genetically altered and animal products raise locally using humane methods.
I agree with her reasons and her concerns. And I respect what she was trying to do. I try to do some of this as well, but on a much, much smaller scale. I compost. I buy some of my produce at a local farmer's market. And I pay attention to where things are grown when I select them at the grocery store, though that doesn't mean I buy only local foods.
But it seems like such an enormous sacrifice to give up all fruits and vegetables that cannot be grown locally or that are not currently in season locally. All winter long without fresh fruit? I'd really, really, really hate that. Yes, apples that have traveled here from New Zealand may have lost some flavor en route, but I still prefer them to no apples at all. Of course, as a vegetarian, I'd never consider the raising-and-slaughtering-your-own livestock idea. But I also lack all patience and skill with gardening, let alone actual farming. I am married to someone who is a more skilled and enthusiastic gardener than I am, so we do grow some vegetables of our own. I just can't take credit for anything but picking them off the vines.
Still, this book is making me think harder about the foods we're buying and eating. I felt hyper-conscious -- and a little bit guilty -- last night as I sat here reading the book while eating a dish of grapes grown in California!
I am definitely hitting the farmer's market this weekend.





