Good Reads: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver

I think I might be the last person on earth reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.  Or at least close to it.  Upon standing in line with this book at the library, not one but TWO people noticed I was holding this book and started telling me how wonderful it is.

This is a must read for anyone interested in eating locally, living a more simple way of life, and learning more about where your food comes from.  Mrs. Kingsolver and her family moved from Arizona to a family farm in Virginia where they grew their own produce, raised their own chickens and turkeys, and bought as much other local food as they could (and when they couldn’t they did without).  They pledged to live this life for one year, and the book tracks their progress throughout the year, offering gardening and cooking anecdotes, endearing stories about life with chickens and turkeys, lots of life lessons, and seasonal recipes along the way.  There are enjoyable and sometimes humorous tales of a never-ending zucchini harvest, trips to the farmers’ market, longing for bananas (which are most certainly not local for Virginia), canning salsas and spaghetti sauce, and getting turkeys ready for Thanksgiving.

There were a few times along the way that I felt the book got a little preachy, and I have no desire to go to the extremes that Mrs. Kingsolver and her family did.  But many of the changes made by this family are attainable, and this book was certainly an eye opener.  You will walk away from this book with a more profound understanding of where your food comes from.

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