Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

 Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, by Barbara Kingsolver with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver.

 

All over the US and abroad, Barbara Kingsolver fans are reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle  because of their loyal affection for her prose. Even before they crack the spine of the book, they will imagine the fun and satisfaction of sharing a year with a family dedicated to local eating as described by the apt and poetic Kingsolver. Yes, it is fun to chicken farm with third-grader Lily, and although the work of tending to a big garden is vividly dramatized, the romance of a kitchen full of August heirloom tomatoes entices the reader. Those who pick up this book are not likely to be hard sells in terms of opening their minds to the concepts of eating locally, yet Kingsolver’s arguments and experiences are likely to have each reader considering the  wonders of  local food. 

 

With all the food choices available to most Americans, it seems counterintuitive to believe that humans have eaten about 80,000 plant species in their history, yet today three quarters of all human food is now derived from just eight species. Could it be that the availability of convenient food choices is in actuality a glut of banality?   Since we now eat only one percent of the varieties of vegetables that were grown here a century ago, one of the benefits to  gardening and buying from small regional farmers is the rich diversity of full-flavors that are open to those who obtain vegetables and fruit void of bar codes and passport stamps.

 

Even with an Appalachian farm, a willing family, and a book deal, the Kingsolver family is not pure in their dedication to local food. They do, however, draw a line, set a standard as to how far they would go: within one hundred miles is local, and each family member is allowed a luxury such as coffee or spices. The environmental impact of their diet is manifold in terms of reduced fuel and chemical consumption.  

 

Think the Kingsolver’s are vegetarians? Think again. Although one would expect ardent environmentalists to eschew meat, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle explores the not so black and white issue. There is no room in the Kingsolver’s kitchen for antibiotic laden, force fed, growth-hormone injected meat, but they do eat meat. They raise and slaughter their own poultry, and they take the reader through a day of bloody harvest. The issue is explored not only on the American chopping block, but in ecosystems that cannot support they type of plant life capable of nourishing humans. Ruminants such as camels, reindeer, and goats change indigestible cellulose into edible milk and meat. The vegetarian versus omnivore issue is complex and ultimately tied to understanding the local land and ecosystems. For many, vegetarianism is an untenable luxury.   

 

 Where does Kingsolver leave the reader? We can garden, learn to make cheese (she offers readers sources to begin this project), go to the animalvegetableMiracle.com website for recipes, and we can strive to support local organic farmers. Some of us can buy in bulk in season and can, freeze, and dry for winter.   Unless we are farmers, most of us can not grow enough food to sustain our families. We can, however, discover what our local foods are; we can taste in-season foods and push for and plant heirloom vegetables. We can consider if we should be buying Costa Rican bananas when cherries, strawberries, or apples are ripe in nearby farms and orchards.  

 

The Kingsolver family completed their year of local eating; they rarely make their own pasta anymore and chocolate has crept back into the pantry (Who can blame them?), but they are still gardening, canning and buying from local farmers and millers. Many people will read this book and want to know what local sources are available to them. Is there a dairy, and orchard, a farm or mill in your county? The AnimalVegetableMiracle.com website will hook you up.  She leaves room for each reader to make food decisions that work for their ethics and lifestyle, but she prods the reader to make choices rather than be led by the commercial enticements of the mega grocery chains. Kingsolver’s message strikes cleanly: connections to our local land and food should be strong; it is this connection that ultimately sustains us.