As the days get shorter and the temperature a bit crisper, all over the country we see harvest scenes and visions of bounty. But how much of what we see is near us? Do we know what grows when, or where? The vast majority of us have to say “no.”

Enter the world of the “locavores” – people who make a point of eating seasonally, and concentrating on the bounty that is around them. Sound easy? Think again – that means no strawberries in February – and no bananas at all, for just about all of us Americans.

But it’s not impossible – and doesn’t have to feel like deprivation. Barbara Kingsolver, along with her husband and two daughters, moved from their home in non-food-producing Tuscon to a family farm in Virginia, where they got right down to the business of growing and raising their own food and supporting local farmers. Imagine going from the overflowing supermarket aisles, where all seasons are every season, to eating only what you or a neighbor has grown. That includes animal protein, too – chickens, turkeys, eggs, beef, lamb, pork. And the Kingsolvers, former vegetarians, have one of the best reasoned discussions on why eating meat is neither unhealthy nor sinful – if you know what to eat, and when – that I have ever read.

All told, it only cost 50 cents a meal to feed the Kingsolver family of four for a year. And this book was written only a couple of years ago – so what Barbara has to say still rings true.

There are touching human stories here (the family's 9-year-old learns a secret to raising chickens for food: don't name them!) but the book's purpose is serious food for thought: it argues the economic, social and health benefits of putting local foods at the center of a family diet. As Kingsolver details the family's experience month-by-month, husband Steven adds sidebars on the problems of industrial agriculture and daughter Camille tosses in some first-person essays ("Growing Up in the Kitchen") and recipes ("Holiday Corn Pudding a Nine-Year-Old Can Make").

I am incredibly fortunate to live in the wonderful county of Schoharie, New York – known as the “Breadbasket of the Revolution” in the 18th century, and still primarily agricultural today. Reading ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, MIRACLE has reminded me of just how lucky I am. For the rest of you – start seeking out your farmer’s markets. Try eating locally, even just for a week. Start connecting with your food again. The nourishment you receive won’t just be physical – but for all the facets of who you are and how you live.