Book Review: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

When I heard that Barbara Kingsolver had written a book on eating locally and organically, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. The Poisonwood Bible is one of my all-time favorite books, and I was interested to see how Kingsolver would go from writing a novel about missionaries in Africa to writing about her own life.

In Animal, Vegeble, Miracle the author and her family move to their farm in the Appalachians and vow to grow their own food for the next year, and only eat this and food grown locally. I have to admit, I have bucolic notions about living on a farm and living off the land, and this book makes it seem easier then I had ever imagined in my child-like fantasies. With each chapter, I felt more inspired to eat healthier, cook at home, and support local farms. Kingsolver raises a lot of thought-provoking questions about how far removed we are from the food we eat. I don't agree with her support of tobacco farms, but her section on turkey sex is hilarious and actually quite educational!

I do have a couple of bones to pick with this book (as my mother would say). If you are a vegetarian, you'll probably take issue with a lot of the arguments on why to eat meat. As I mentioned, Kingsolver's life seems a bit too fairytale perfect and saccharine sweet. I was starting to roll my eyes every time she mentioned how perfect her kids are. Her older daughter contributes to the book, but her contributions are redundant to what Kingsolver has already written, and sound a bit preachy. She does include lots of recipes which I'm looking forward to trying. I already baked the zucchini chocolate chip cookies---I couldn't resist. They were delicious, but packed with so much fat and sugar, I promised to never make them again. I thought it contradicted the healthy perspective of the book.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle lists a lot of helpful websites and info for further reading. I've already found a farmer's market close to my house that I didn't know of. I also checked out this website for eating local in the Bay Area: www.locavores.com. I'm looking into becoming a shareholder of a farm which will in turn give me fresh veggies and eggs every week. If anyone has done this and has suggestions, I'd love to hear from you. Stay tuned, and I'll keep you posted on my food adventures...