false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167733922m/25460.jpg 25460 19 <p> Bestselling author Barbara Kingsolver returns with her first nonfiction narrative that will open your eyes in a hundred new ways to an old truth: You are what you eat. </p> <p> <i>"As the U.S. population made an unprecedented mad dash for the Sun Belt, one carload of us paddled against the tide, heading for the Promised Land where water falls from the sky and green stuff grows all around. We were about to begin the adventure of realigning our lives with our food chain. </p> <p> "Naturally, our first stop was to buy junk food and fossil fuel. . . ."</i> </p> <p> Hang on for the ride: With characteristic poetry and pluck, Barbara Kingsolver and her family sweep readers along on their journey away from the industrial-food pipeline to a rural life in which they vow to buy only food raised in their own neighborhood, grow it themselves, or learn to live without it. Their good-humored search yields surprising discoveries about turkey sex life and overly zealous zucchini plants, en route to a food culture that's better for the neighborhood and also better on the table. Part memoir, part journalistic investigation, <i>Animal, Vegetable, Miracle</i> makes a passionate case for putting the kitchen back at the center of family life and diversified farms at the center of the American diet. </p> <p> <i>"This is the story of a year in which we made every attempt to feed ourselves animals and vegetables whose provenance we really knew . . . and of how our family was changed by our first year of deliberately eating food produced from the same place where we worked, went to school, loved our neighbors, drank the water, and breathed the air."</i> </p> 1582285 1 5 2007 Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life total:17047|5:6931|4:6317|3:2821|2:759|1:219| 17047 70123 30343 5293 4 80 false false Tue May 13 16:12:20 -0700 2008 Tue May 13 16:27:15 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 33 false false Wed Oct 10 15:01:54 -0700 2007 Sun Nov 04 14:43:08 -0800 2007 more...]]> 3 21 false false Mon Mar 03 07:23:43 -0800 2008 Tue Jun 03 04:17:32 -0700 2008 more...]]> 1 21 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Sep 09 15:17:05 -0700 2007 Sun Sep 09 15:33:29 -0700 2007 more...]]> 2 13 false false Wed Dec 26 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sun Jan 06 05:18:02 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 06 05:44:55 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 11 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Aug 16 17:14:38 -0700 2007 Sun Jan 27 15:10:22 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 12 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 22 18:56:35 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 08 10:20:14 -0700 2008
On one hand, when the author sticks to the actual practicalities and stories of what it took to live on local food only for a year such as the hilarity of turkey sex, the pets vs food dilemma or the aggravation that...more...]]> 2 7 false false Sun May 11 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon May 12 15:01:23 -0700 2008 Thu May 29 05:57:03 -0700 2008 The Simpsons features Ed Begley Jr with a non-polluting car that runs on "[his] own sense of self-satisfaction." As I read this book, I couldn't help remembering that scene. Is Barbara Kingsolver a talented writer? Undoubtedly. Her descriptions of food a...more...]]> 5 8 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Mar 17 10:38:30 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 13 18:46:39 -0700 2008
I think the grow your own philoso...more...]]> 5 7 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Aug 28 16:46:09 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 30 15:14:32 -0700 2007
Anyone who eats -- and especially those who eat without thinking about where their food comes from -- should read thi...more...]]> 5 5 false false Sat Mar 08 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Mar 01 13:21:42 -0800 2008 Sat Mar 08 10:24:24 -0800 2008
I give this book 5 stars because its cause is very close to my heart. It is an excellent primer for sustainable, local food sourcing: it provides a good overview of the issues (i...more...]]> 5 5 false false Tue Sep 04 19:41:15 -0700 2007 Sat Jul 07 09:41:21 -0700 2007 Sat Aug 04 04:50:10 -0700 2007 www.maxandsharon.blogspot.com) for my pals on Goodreads. There’s no better place to be readin this book than in a rural part of a developing country. If you’re not familiar with the book, it’s about a year that her family lived off of only loc...more...]]> 2 7 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Jun 28 14:07:25 -0700 2007 Thu Jun 28 14:07:41 -0700 2007
In this case, it's mild disappointment. When I heard about this book and read the review, I thought it would be more like a diary. A mu...more...]]> 5 4 false true Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Jan 30 10:09:25 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 30 10:26:48 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 4 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon May 28 09:20:17 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 11 13:25:03 -0700 2007
In my case, Barbara Kingsolver is preaching to the choir - but she's certainly no preachier than any other writer on this subject, and her anecdotes are more ...more...]]> 4 4 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue May 22 07:00:13 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 11 11:53:52 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 3 false false Mon Jul 07 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 26 16:18:37 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 07 20:42:44 -0700 2008
This bo...more...]]> 4 3 false false Mon Jul 07 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 26 13:12:13 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 08 09:18:05 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 4 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 12 15:20:48 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 16 03:59:15 -0700 2008
loved most of it, really disliked a few things. the good definitely outweighed the bad, though, so 4 stars, for now. :)
***

okay, coming back to this, a few notes about this book:

i want a copy to own. there was so ...more...]]> 5 3 false false Sun Jun 08 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 08 17:33:39 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 08 17:47:19 -0700 2008 (our house). It just seems right to grow food here. Because of the pla...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=25460