June 6, 2011

Greenreads: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

By Barbara Kingsolver

This book is about a family that lives off local food for a year. That means no bananas from Mexico, etc. They move to some place in the East with a farm and grow a garden. IT's their experience and recipes included, and informative information on why they're eating local and about certain processes about how we get our food, local or not. (She's written the Poisonwood Bible book, but I didn't care for it...I felt she rambled and was way too openly commentative, and I lost interest.)

I learned about cheesemaking, more about canning my own tomatoes, raw milk, etc. It's very cool to hear about their struggles to get use to just eating what was available and to see that they were successful and it wasn't too hard if they made it their priority and were willing to give up certain foods for certain seasons.

I definitely had to skip some parts where she rattled off about food industry practices, which I can see where she's coming from, but sometimes she had a tendency to be a little harsh and punctuated in her statements. (which is enjoyable at times, but overkill at others) She writes very matter-of-fact, which I tend to appreciate, but sometimes don't need all her extra side thoughts.

So, I'd read it if you're at all interested in learning how to better live more locally and sustainably. I rate it 4 of 5 for greenreads.

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