Lena's review
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
by Barbara Kingsolver
Great review, Lena. A masterpiece of good short writing in itself.
Thanks, Mark!
A week after finishing the book, I’m still trying to figure out how to manage that guilt. I notice a reactionary part of me that doesn’t like feeling bad about buying those gorgeous pomegranates just because they came from California. It’s tempting to just ignore where the food comes from so I don’t have to face the guilt of buying something from far away. But then I noticed the organic frozen asparagus I bought at Coscto came from China, and I find myself thinking that it does seem like a good idea to buy primarily from my own continent.
Where I live in Colorado, however, market forces don’t seem to function the way they do in Kingsolver’s region. She says that buying in-season, local, organic food should not add that much more to the food bill, and maybe in Virginia, that’s true. But I live in a town with a steep cost of living, where our local Whole Foods charges significantly higher prices than I’ve paid in their other stores, and the farmer’s market is the most expensive I’ve ever seen. Since reading the book, I have noticed that buying in-season does make a difference on price, and I’m starting to pay attention to what seasonal produce I can buy from local growers. But here, the fact that goat cheese from the local farm twenty minutes from my house is more than three times the price of Canadian goat cheese at Costco doesn’t seem to mesh with her affordability argument.
I would love to be in a situation where I could dedicate more of my money and time to eating the kind of food she suggests. But that’s just not realistic. The book did inspire me to make a few small changes, and maybe if a lot of people do that, it will make a beneficial difference in our food production systems. But I find myself wondering how much of her audience she lost by setting the bar so high people feel guilty about eating bananas.
I've heard from others that this book is preachy, too, and I'm still excited (and a little scared) to read it. Do what you can when you can, and try not to feel bad about the rest of it. I think the awareness you gained from it and the small changes you have made are good stuff.
I think sometimes in situations like these, it makes more sense to attack the broader issues politically than to try to change the world one shopping trip at a time. I know that can seem counterintuitive, but thousands of people trying to buy local produce probably won't do as much good as lobbying Congress to produce a truly rational and effective farm subsidies program. You can get some good insights into this in this piece by Michael Pollan:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11...
That's a great article, Mark. I did call my senators to ask them to support the Fresh Act. It is bizarre that our current subsidy system makes Twinkies cheaper than carrots.
I do think consumer demand is an important part of the equation, though, and I agree with Emily that small changes can make a difference. But I think you're right that individual shopping choices will have limited impact as long as our current system remains in place. It will be interesting to see what happens with that bill in the Senate.
Yes, Mark, your link was great. I sent it to several friends and did the whole blogging thing. The nice thing about that is that I could talk to some farmers in the northern plains states and get an idea of what they thought. And they all think the Farm Bill is crap, too. Peace.
Thank you for your review of this book! I have found the beginning very preachy, and really don't care for that....I'm waiting to get into the good stuff!
I'm starting to wonder if she wrote this book to mirror growing a garden - you have to do the hard work to get to the good stuff ;-)
You said exactly what I felt like after reading this book, but in a much more articulate way. Thank you. I really enjoyed the book when I wasn't feeling guilty, that is. I also learned a tremendous amount and no doubt she has inspired me to seriously look at what we eat.
Glad you found it helpful. I'm still thinking about the book seven months later, and I'm happy fresh basil season is finally here!
I am reading this right now. I don't sense the preachiness, but perhaps that is because I am quite supportive of what she did. I am considering implementing a similar plan of my own and I find her information useful, her tone light and humorous and her commitment level enviable. lol
I did quite like your review, Lena.
Lena's review
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
Lena's review
rating:
bookshelves:
memoir
Barbara Kingsolver has long been one of my favorite writers, but this most recent book was a bit of a mixed bag for me. The book covers the year she and her family spent eating only food they had either grown themselves or purchased from local farmers personally known to them. Kingsolver’s skill as a storyteller is undiminished, and there are some wonderful sections as she relates their adventures plotting how to foist some of their bumper zucchini harvest off on unsuspecting neighbors and how they helped their new turkey crop re-learn the lost art of natural copulation.
The book also succeeded in teaching me quite a bit I didn’t know about food and gardening. As someone who was raised on heavily processed foods, I was fascinated to learn the biological secrets of root vegetables, how a mild-mannered novelist “harvests” chickens at home, and how much better food can taste when it hasn’t been subject to the rigors of corporate food production. Her chapter on asparagus...more
The book also succeeded in teaching me quite a bit I didn’t know about food and gardening. As someone who was raised on heavily processed foods, I was fascinated to learn the biological secrets of root vegetables, how a mild-mannered novelist “harvests” chickens at home, and how much better food can taste when it hasn’t been subject to the rigors of corporate food production. Her chapter on asparagus...more
Great review, Lena. A masterpiece of good short writing in itself.
Thanks, Mark!
A week after finishing the book, I’m still trying to figure out how to manage that guilt. I notice a reactionary part of me that doesn’t like feeling bad about buying those gorgeous pomegranates just because they came from California. It’s tempting to just ignore where the food comes from so I don’t have to face the guilt of buying something from far away. But then I noticed the organic frozen asparagus I bought at Coscto came from China, and I find myself thinking that it does seem like a good idea to buy primarily from my own continent.
Where I live in Colorado, however, market forces don’t seem to function the way they do in Kingsolver’s region. She says that buying in-season, local, organic food should not add that much more to the food bill, and maybe in Virginia, that’s true. But I live in a town with a steep cost of living, where our local Whole Foods charges significantly higher prices than I’ve paid in their other stores, and the farmer’s market is the most expensive I’ve ever seen. Since reading the book, I have noticed that buying in-season does make a difference on price, and I’m starting to pay attention to what seasonal produce I can buy from local growers. But here, the fact that goat cheese from the local farm twenty minutes from my house is more than three times the price of Canadian goat cheese at Costco doesn’t seem to mesh with her affordability argument.
I would love to be in a situation where I could dedicate more of my money and time to eating the kind of food she suggests. But that’s just not realistic. The book did inspire me to make a few small changes, and maybe if a lot of people do that, it will make a beneficial difference in our food production systems. But I find myself wondering how much of her audience she lost by setting the bar so high people feel guilty about eating bananas.
I've heard from others that this book is preachy, too, and I'm still excited (and a little scared) to read it. Do what you can when you can, and try not to feel bad about the rest of it. I think the awareness you gained from it and the small changes you have made are good stuff.
I think sometimes in situations like these, it makes more sense to attack the broader issues politically than to try to change the world one shopping trip at a time. I know that can seem counterintuitive, but thousands of people trying to buy local produce probably won't do as much good as lobbying Congress to produce a truly rational and effective farm subsidies program. You can get some good insights into this in this piece by Michael Pollan:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11...
That's a great article, Mark. I did call my senators to ask them to support the Fresh Act. It is bizarre that our current subsidy system makes Twinkies cheaper than carrots.
I do think consumer demand is an important part of the equation, though, and I agree with Emily that small changes can make a difference. But I think you're right that individual shopping choices will have limited impact as long as our current system remains in place. It will be interesting to see what happens with that bill in the Senate.
Yes, Mark, your link was great. I sent it to several friends and did the whole blogging thing. The nice thing about that is that I could talk to some farmers in the northern plains states and get an idea of what they thought. And they all think the Farm Bill is crap, too. Peace.
Thank you for your review of this book! I have found the beginning very preachy, and really don't care for that....I'm waiting to get into the good stuff!
I'm starting to wonder if she wrote this book to mirror growing a garden - you have to do the hard work to get to the good stuff ;-)
You said exactly what I felt like after reading this book, but in a much more articulate way. Thank you. I really enjoyed the book when I wasn't feeling guilty, that is. I also learned a tremendous amount and no doubt she has inspired me to seriously look at what we eat.
Glad you found it helpful. I'm still thinking about the book seven months later, and I'm happy fresh basil season is finally here!
I am reading this right now. I don't sense the preachiness, but perhaps that is because I am quite supportive of what she did. I am considering implementing a similar plan of my own and I find her information useful, her tone light and humorous and her commitment level enviable. lol
I did quite like your review, Lena.