Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life in Reading with Style

Sep 03, 2011 Wendy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-nature, non-fiction, memoir-biography, foodie

Considering that this book inspired me to order a batch of rennet so I can make my own mozzarella, to *finally* reassemble my aerogarden with lettuce seeds after being empty for a year, and even to start a batch of alfalfa sprouts growing in a tray...all these tangible effects should be enough to show that this book worked a little magic on me. I already agreed with many of Ms. Kingsolver's views on sustainability and eating locally, though I wouldn't claim to be much good at it. And I absolutel Considering that this book inspired me to order a batch of rennet so I can make my own mozzarella, to *finally* reassemble my aerogarden with lettuce seeds after being empty for a year, and even to start a batch of alfalfa sprouts growing in a tray...all these tangible effects should be enough to show that this book worked a little magic on me. I already agreed with many of Ms. Kingsolver's views on sustainability and eating locally, though I wouldn't claim to be much good at it. And I absolutely suck at gardening. (But I do like cooking and farmers' markets.)

But Ms. Kingsolver IS good at sustainability, and eating locally, and canning and cooking and gardening--even at coaxing a brood of shy turkeys into getting it on and having babies--and oh boy, does she let you know. There's something almost smug and sanctimonious in her tone as she tells you how wonderful it is to feed a family of 4 off of her own 40 acres. When the terms "like a Norman Rockwell painting" and "we live in Pleasantville" popped up, I felt a bit nauseous. When I suggested to my husband, who claims to have spent most of his childhood pulling weeds in his parents' vegetable patch, that maybe we should start a garden, he demurred, saying he'd gotten that gardening stuff out of his system long ago and doesn't want to spend evenings and weekends off of work doing more work. I suppose gardening can be grand if, like Ms. Kingsolver, you find it fun. But if you don't, it can seem like a drudge that will take over your life. (It's hard enough going out of town and finding someone to watch the dog. Imagine finding a small army to do your farm chores).

Barbara Kingsolver is a terrific writer, and I most enjoyed her anecdotes about her farmyard fowl (turkey sex!) and the never-ending "pets vs. food" dilemma that must be dealt with, especially when young children are involved. However, I suspect that if I hadn't already been on-board more or less with Church Locavore, I may have been put off by the preachyness. I recommend The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals and Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal which also address the topic of American food culture. These books might be more likely to convince the average person, but if you're already on the bandwagon and don't mind the constant reminders that you will never be as awesome a locavore as the Kingsolver clan, this one is pretty good, too. Did I mention it comes with recipes? :) ...more

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Apr 01, 2009 Bucket rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: history, nature-the-outdoors, economics, culture, food, parents-affecting-children, reviewed, non-fiction, science

Kingsolver and her family embark on a year of eating only local, organic foods. They eat only what they know the source of (in most cases literally know the farmer who grew/raised the food or grew it themselves). They raise chickens and turkeys, have a large variety of plants in their garden, and make cheese, yogurt, and bread. The book moves through the year, describing plants, animals, what is locally fresh at various times of the year, including a history and critique of industrial food produ ...more

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Nov 14, 2007 Joanna rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: biography-memoir, nonfiction, 2008-read, audiobooks

It was nice to hear the authors read their own book. Ms. Kingsolver has a nice reading voice and it made the preachy parts of the book seem heartfelt rather than just annoying. The book doesn't add much to the political or policy debates about food production and distribution, but it does give a nice anecdotal account of this family's experience with local food. While many of the choices are inaccessible to this NYC-dweller, I did walk away with new enthusiasm for joining my neighborhood CSA. ...more

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May 19, 2010 Erin (NY) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, non-fiction

This book was a lot better than I thought. It definitely made me not want to eat anything non-organic/non-local ever! I liked the 3 voices that were all a bit different.

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