Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

[munchymom]

This is a recommendation, not a review, because I'm not all the way through it yet. Barbara Kingsolver's new book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle documents a year of Kingsolver and her family eating only locally produced food. They live on a farm in Virginia and with a few exceptions eat only what they grow (vegetables, fruit, chickens, eggs and turkeys) and what they can get from farmers' markets. This book is a very entertaining read; the parts that discuss the nuts and bolts of farming remind me a bit of E.B. White's farming essays in One Man's Meat. She insists in a few places that she's not being preachy, but she is, shall we say, a strong advocate for the local-eating lifestyle. To a layperson, the science/political advocacy parts appear well-researched and well-argued. If you're one who spends a lot of time here defending Monsanto and chain restaurants, you'll probably find yourself throwing the book across the room with some regularity.

I don't think I could do an all-local diet myself (being required to drink only North Carolina wine would send me over the wall in a week or so) but I do try to consume locally when possible. I'm way too lazy to grow anything myself, and I think the homeowners' association would frown on a chicken coop in the backyard, but we have a couple of great farmers' markets here and I consume quite a bit from there. I'm completely in sympathy with the anti-agribiz arguments; I find it really scary that we're planting the whole country (and increasingly the rest of the world) in genetic monocultures.

[Pontormo]

I wondered if someone would start a thread on this book. I am still waiting for a copy at my public library. What I find most promising is the fact that an established, familar author conducted this experiment. Not only might it be a pleasure to read, but it sounds as if it won't get mired in sensationalism or extremes.

The reason I say this is that No Impact Man has too good a publicist. His blog to book & documentary film have received a lot of hype; he may have been mentioned here already. Both The New York Times* and last night, Nightline use the same hook in titles that invite you to exclaim, "How disgusting!"

Granted, Colin Beavan (looking suitably awful on ABC's Web site) and his family are conducting a more comprehensive scheme to address ecological concerns, and since he's a New Yorker with a housekeeper and a blog, the inherent hypocracies make smug observers potential book-buyers. As far as what is relevant to eGullet goes, it seems as if NIM could not cook before the project began and that his extensive library did not hold much in the way of cookbooks. Couldn't he go to the public library? Read Mark Bittman before baking whole wheat quick bread in his brownie pan or send his wife off to work with a Mason jar of sludge for lunch?

I am hoping that Babara Kingsolver and her family are better cooks. The title suggests a real appreciation for food.

*Article accessible for limited time. Garden Section on March 22, 2007.

[Megan Blocker]

Entertainment Weekly (though hardly an arbiter of food literature, they are usually concise and not all that far off) called it entertaining but a bit preachy, if memory serves.

Kingsolver and her husband were interviewed on NPR's Weekend Edition last week...

[Kim Shook]

I got it (and some new crocs) for Mother's Day yesterday (does Mr. Kim know me, or what? ). I'll report when I get a chance to read it.

Kim

[munchymom]

I would say that "entertaining but a bit preachy" hits the mark pretty well. The writing is very good, lots of humor. It definitely doesn't have the grimness or the purism of the No Impact Man - they do continue to use coffee and spices, for instance. The (mostly successful) positive spin put on the local diet in this book is "Look how wonderful these home-grown, in-season things are!" rather than "I must deny myself everything good to eat so I can be righteous." They're definitely experienced cooks - Kingsolver's teenage daughter has sidebars in the book that give recipes and menu ideas, in addition to brief essays about a teenager's perspective on the project. They make their own bread and cheese, grow lots of produce and poultry, and discuss the results in rapturous terms. I enjoyed the book thoroughly - as I was sort of trying to get at in my previous post, I think the preaching is reasonably tolerable if you tend to be in sympathy with the point of view to start with. If you're not open to the ideas, then I imagine the "preachiness factor" would be a lot higher.

[Terrasanct]

I just got this book last night and have barely started it. As soon as I saw it in the bookstore I knew I had to get it. Kingsolver is one of my favorite authors, and the ideas she's talking about in her book are ones that I'm very interested in. I'm another who really couldn't eat only local foods, unless I want to eat only beef, wheat, and sugar beets (yum). I patronize the local farmer's market and wish that it didn't start so late--the third week in July, usually. But that's our growing season here in central Montana.

It will be interesting to see how the book turns out. I hope it will spawn some good discussions.

[blurby]

I went to a talk she gave last night while on tour for her new book. She read selections from it as well as taking questions from the audience. I'm not sure that I'll read it since it would be preaching to the choir but she came across as very genuine and invested in what she was advocating. Unlike many localvores, veg*ns, or environmentalists she does not sound shrill or preachy despite her obvious leanings. Her arguments are not those of doom and gloom but rather that moving towards a lifestyle such as the one she details opens up many opporunities to find joy in life and reconnect with community. It is also heartening to hear that her family will not be abandoning their new lifestyle just because the year is over.

[Kathy S]

I'm reading the book too, and saw her speak on her book on May 9th. I'm really enjoying it so far. I couldn't have a farm in my back yard but we've alot of farmers markets in the area. She isn't preachy and has a lot of good information on resources for finding locally grown food. I'm sure I'll post more on this subject as I read the book.

At her talk, she went into some details about turkey sex that had me laughing so hard, tears were streaming down my face!

[Fat Guy]

We recently received a review copy of "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life." I thought I'd mention that the authors have created a website devoted to the book. As they describe it:

Part memoir, part journalistic investigation, this book (released May 2007) tells the story of how our family was changed by one year of deliberately eating food produced in the place where we live. Barbara wrote the central narrative; Steven's sidebars dig deeper into various aspects of food-production science and industry; Camille's brief essays offer a nineteen-year-old's perspective on the local-food project, plus nutritional information, meal plans and recipes.

There are a few short excerpts on the website.

If you're a Society member and would be interested in reviewing this book for the benefit of your fellow members, please PM me and, if you're the first to respond, we'll send you the book. Your part of the bargain will be to post a review on this topic within three weeks of receiving the book. [EDITED TO ADD: This book has been claimed, but keep an eye out for more offers like this, as we plan to make member-contributed reviews a regular feature.]

[therese]

My husband and I went to hear Kingsolver speak here at Emory University last week. I'd read the book, but only just, as I'm not a huge fan of her writing. My interest was largely piqued by the fact that her farm is apparently very close to where my grandparents' farm was located, and where I spent my childhood summers doing a much more extreme version of the lifestyle she and her family have adopted. She is very careful to not say precisely where she lives, and now that I've met her fan base I can see why.

I enjoyed her readings more than I enjoyed the actual book. The reception afterwards, curiously, featured truly terrible food.

[debbiemoose]

I'm a fan of Kingsolver's fiction and agree with her sentiments about eating locally. But I could not finish this book. I became weary of being preached at. The actual mechanics of what her family did was interesting, but the other stuff, I just tired of. Maybe it was because I'm already aware of most of the issues she was writing about.

[barolo]

I'm a fan of Kingsolver's fiction and agree with her sentiments about eating locally. But I could not finish this book. I became weary of being preached at. The actual mechanics of what her family did was interesting, but the other stuff, I just tired of. Maybe it was because I'm already aware of most of the issues she was writing about.

←

I did finish the book, but I agree.

[Megan Blocker]

I'm a fan of Kingsolver's fiction and agree with her sentiments about eating locally. But I could not finish this book. I became weary of being preached at. The actual mechanics of what her family did was interesting, but the other stuff, I just tired of. Maybe it was because I'm already aware of most of the issues she was writing about.

←

I did finish the book, but I agree.

←

Ditto.

And now that I'm almost finished with The Omnivore's Dilemma, I think I know what bugged me about it. The preachiness combined with the memoir made it almost too personal, too insular, too inapplicable to anyone else's life. That's a huge contrast to Pollan's book, which is so thoroughly researched and manages to be intimate without getting personal. It's not about his wife, it's not about his kid, it's about his own thinking and discovery. Maybe it's the difference between a novelist and a journalist.

[Sherry B]

I just bought the audiobook version of this book and I look forward to listening to it. Just as soon as I figure out how to put it on my iPod.

[Aaron B]

When is the last time you’ve sat down and pondered the marvel that is that tomato in your salad? Or that egg in your omelet? Or that old steak in your freezer? The answer, for most of us, is never. We take these things for granted, as gifts bestowed upon us so that we may mindlessly consume them, never once giving them the respect they deserve. Barbara Kingsolver in her book “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” seeks to abolish this all too widely spread practice.

Using the literary savvy that brought her to fame as a fiction writer, she documents a daunting undertaking; eating local for four seasons. Taking what the Earth has to give her, appreciatively, and making the most out of it.

She begins with her exodus from the barren south west, Arizona specifically, to the fertile hills of Appalachia, where she, her husband, two kids, flock of chickens and donkey make a new home for themselves. She grows whatever she can and counts on local farmers markets to supply her with the rest, minus a small few necessities that would be otherwise unavailable. She allows the seasons to dictate her diet, something very few Americans can boast these days. Most impressively, though, is how she manages to address the political implications of the American food system without sounding preachy.

She discusses the concentrated animal feeding operations—or CAFO’s for short—and their inhumane practices (far less grotesquely and more effectively than a PETA pamphlet does). She explains the plight of the small farmer just trying to get by in a system that caters to the mammoth conglomerates at their expense. She outlines the environmental implications of unsustainable agriculture and even tells the tale of the poor turkey, once a frontrunner for our national bird, now a seasonal specialty who’s traits have been so carefully selected over so many generations it’s no longer even recognizable as a descendent of its ancestors (or capable of having sex as it turns out). And she manages to do all of this with the warmth and compassion of a mother, not a paranoid conspiracy theorist or stuffy professor. She truly is the perfect spokesperson for the “localvore” movement.

For many the concept of eating locally is an elitist idea. Only those privileged enough to be able to afford the exorbitant prices many farmers markets charge, or the time and space to grow all their own food, have the luxury. Kingsolver, along with her husband who wrote many politically and socially driven essays scattered throughout the book, dismisses this notion. They explain what we can all do to make a difference, even those of us living in major cities. Growing on porches, balconies or near sunny windows, participating in community-supported agriculture operations or renting a space in your local garden are all options.

Eating locally does not have to be a life altering commitment, just putting forth some effort, seeking out the produce grown in local farms in your favorite supermarket, can make a difference. Though she did address all of these issues, her year of eating local was not a politically driven publicity stunt and her book was so much more than a call to arms.

Her daughter Camille makes appearances at the end of each chapter, giving a young person’s perspective on the complex issues that were discussed, and suggesting recipes for how to deal with your seasonal produce. The book is filled with personal anecdotes and comedic commentary. And the way all of these elements are woven together to form the final text makes the reader feel more like part of the family coming along for the journey than an outsider looking in.

Rarely do you come across a book that covers such a heavy topic in such an interesting and enjoyable way, while managing not to detract from the severity and imminence of the situation. “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” is not an expose, it’s not a diary and it’s not a cookbook. It’s a hybrid with elements of each and so much more, compiled in a way that makes it accessible to anybody that cares about the food going into their body or the people who worked so hard to get it there.

[rconnelly]

Just as a note: the Southwest from whence she came is hardly barren. Barbara lived in Tucson which is in the lush Sonoran desert. Yes, it's dry and it would've been harder to try what she did in Appalachia, but the desert here is utterly beautiful and filled with all sorts of cactus, bushes, trees etc. The Native Americans lived for centurys on what foods they found in the desert.

[teagal]

I loved this book and it has been the stepping stone to a new way of life for me. It cemented the fact that anyone can live pretty much locally if they try and really think about it. I do hesitate to buy bananas for myself because of it.

I love her as an author, but also thought the book was a little preachy, but the end result for me was an impressive book.