by
Barbara Kingsolver
with Steven Hopp and Camille
Kingsolver
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.
