If You Only Buy One Book This Year

We're back and we had a great time on our whirlwind trip to Arizona (Sorry Michele M., but it was too whirlwind to plan even a lunch!). I have pictures to edit and then I'll do an Arizona post, but for today, the news is about Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.

When I read one of Barbara's earlier books, The Poisonwood Bible, I was in a state of deep depression for at least a week. Not because it was a sad book, but because it was such a complex and well written story with character development surpassing anything I'd ever read before. I felt like throwing in the towel on my own writing aspirations.

It seemed that nothing I'd ever write could be so compelling and I knew I wouldn't have the patience to do the kind of research necessary to write a novel with the parallels between history and story the way she did.  It made for some blue days over here folks! I eventually rose up from the pits of despair and settled into happily (and without envy)...admiring her writing.

When I saw she'd written a non-fiction book about her family's experience eating only locally grown foods for a year (and now a lifetime), I was interested, and used the vacation as an excuse to take a break from BBB 2008. 

It was worth my weakness. 

This book is a must for anyone intrigued with the concept of eating local or with the Slow Food movement in general.

I must confess that I only recently learned what the Slow Food movement actually is.

Because it started in Italy and has been embraced by Europeans, I assumed it literally meant eating your food more slowly, savoring every bite and spending more time relaxing over long slow meals (the way they tend to in Europe anyway)! AGHAHAAHAHA!  I was wrong (mostly) and you can laugh, but I know I can't be the only one! 

The Slow Food movement has certain objectives (here are a few):

• Forming and sustaining seed banks to preserve heirloom varieties in cooperation with local food    systems
• Developing an "ark of taste" for each eco-region, where local culinary traditions and foods are celebrated
• Preserving and promoting local and traditional food products, along with their lore and preparation
• Educating citizens about the drawbacks of commercial agribusiness and factory farms
• Educating citizens about the risks of mono-culture and reliance on too few genomes or varieties
• Developing various political programs to preserve family farms
• Lobbying against government funding of genetic engineering
• Lobbying against the use of pesticides
• Encouraging ethical buying in  local marketplaces

Basically ... Slow Food is not fast food by any stretch.

Barbara, her husband and their two daughters left Arizona and moved to rural Southwest Virginia to live full-time on the farm they usually just spent summer vacations at. They decided to only eat locally grown food (including their own) and the book is about how they handled the difficulties of finding and existing only on local fare. They made very few exceptions, but each family member got to pick a "must have" item that could come from somewhere else and unfortunately they couldn't get their wheat for bread baking locally, but they did a great job with everything else (including meat). They made their own cheese and the easy recipe is included...Michelle over at Vanilla Icing....I can so see you doing this!  Mary Ellen...you'd love the canning and harvest descriptions.

I was totally enchanted by the family. Oldest daughter Camille gives us short essays with recipes throughout the book and youngest daughter Lily blew me away with her chicken raising entrepreneurial spirit. No news for any moms out there, but Lily's own family ranked low on the priority customer list!

The Slow Food movement gets a hard knock now and again from people who claim that eating organic and locally grown foods is elitist and not financially feasible for the average family.  Barbara totally debunks this and shows that even in a big city the cost can be less, but the planning is obviously more complex than heading over to Burger King when you're tired on a Friday night after work. 

Not everyone (my condo-living self included) can go as far as this family did, but the book inspired me to make some hard and fast decisions.  Really. If I want strawberries in the middle of winter in Wisconsin, then I'd better stock up and freeze them when I see them at Farmer's Market this year (Hey, it should be easy since I'll be selling wallets at the Wednesday night market anyway!).  I can do this. I can make a small difference by growing a few things, buying from local growers and by making some of foods I'd incorrectly assumed would be too "involved" like mozzarella cheese. 

Barbara is as thorough with her non-fiction as she is with her fiction.  In addition to humor, recipes, great family exchanges (Lily dramatically realizing that she has to sell an awful lot of her eggs to get a horse), fun information about plants and canning you'll find some hefty statistical information and lots about the history of family farming. 

Let me emphasize the fact that this book is not preachy at all...not one iota....but, it does make you think. When one of eighteen year-old Camille's girlfriends visits and asks for bananas, it's gently explained that the resources used to get to them to Virginia make them an environmentally costly purchase. Good news...she was totally cool with the fresh blackberries they had on hand.

The book is about Barbara's family's total conversion, but it isn't about converting anyone who doesn't want to or who can't go 100%.  It shows you how exciting small steps can be.

For example, I went to the grocery store here (Copps East) and asked the produce manager to point me in the direction of all produce that's locally grown. 

Guess what?

Potatoes. 

That's all.

In a huge grocery store during asparagus, rhubarb and green onion season. 

I decided that from this point forward I'm going to ask every time and when the check-out person half heartedly asks me if I found everything I needed...I'm going to say, "Actually, I didn't. I was looking for locally grown produce and you don't have any." 

I know how this makes me sound, but so what? Normally, I usually just say yes...and not because I did find what I needed, but because it's a habit and answered in the same half paying attention attitude as it's usually asked.  Maybe I'm not ready to give up bananas or mandarin oranges just yet...but, step by step...we shall see!

WHEW! So...in a nutshell....I like this book. :)

In other news:

• Red Belt: A good movie with a few holes, but I love David Mamet.
• The Breadsmith has begun selling fresh baked gluten-free bread on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month. If you have them in your state...check to see if they are offering gluten-free too.
  
• My newest set of hearing aids are being "worked on" and I hope to have them next week.  Say hello to my little friends (mine are black to blend in with my dark brown hair).

• I'm horrified that I thought my one year-blog anniversary was at the end of the month...but was last week!!!!!!!  Give-aways and events coming soon!!!          

Arizona Post Preview:

Slow Food Info:

http://www.slowfood.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_Food

      

Comments

[Emiko]

Well lump me in with the folks who didn't know what Slow Food is (I thought the same thing you did LOL).

Along with "the omnivore's dilemna", this book totally sounds like the kind of book I'm looking to read right now.

Thanks for yet another review - I love having such a cool blogger to come to for a wealth of information, be it goji berries, slow food or making natural bath/beauty products. You rock Laura!!! :)

[michelle]

Alright, were were on some crazy mind meld thing yesterday when it comes to posting.

I didn't post until late at night (Daisy Scouts, followed by shopping for a wedding shower gift with a friend) but we have posts with the same general topic. V. weird!

Your's is more eloquent but mine has more pictures. =p (Hey, that's the only thing I 'got!') I laughed when you mentioned me and the cheese because of COURSE I'd want to try it.

I saw that book at the bookstore not too long ago and picked it up and was very impressed. (Okay and a little annoyed I didn't have a farm to just pick up and move to) I leafed through it probably a little more than Barnes & Noble would prefer but not as much as I would have liked. I'll definitely have to pick it up after reading your review.

And maybe make some cheese!

[Kelly]

I've known about the Slow Food Movement for some time now. Unfortunately, my dear Beloved is not convinced. Mostly because I can't figure out where in the world (Indiana) to buy local coffee!! *sigh* Although I can't prescibe to the total movement...we can buy local. Local beef, honey, handmade items...so worth it!!

Lovely picture of Arizonian flowers! *smile* Can't wait to hear more!

[High Desert Diva]

Kingsolver, without a doubt, is my favorite contemporary author. She is, quite simply, brilliant. I will be reading this, too.

[karen@thefrog]

For those of you wanting a quick online peak check out www.yesmagazine.org. In the search box type in Zucchini Wars which is an excerpt from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. For your trouble you can even download some recipes such as Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies;)

[Christine Marie]

What a fantastic post! It really has me thinking...and seems to parallel my recent thoughts on how much less we really NEED to exist and live more fully.
I have known for ages...(although have not followed the rule consistently)...that Tibetan medicine practitioners along with many others....taught that eating 'seasonally correct foods' and 'locally' keeps one in harmony with their surroundings, therefore harmonious in body, mind and spirit. Ofcourse!
We are sooooo dis-connected from this rule now...even those who are 'health conscious'.
But with just a little more consciousness and 'time'...
we may be able to re-create what the ancients knew all along.

And then of course...there's solar power. :-)
Pardon my rambling, so....in a nutshell....
a little information can go a long way. I must read the book, too!!!!!!!!!!!

[Browningtonforest]

Sounds like an interesting book, thanks for the explanation for what the slow food movement was. I just thought it meant taking a long time to cook the food, I had no idea it was so in depth. In Socal it is easy to eat local and organic from family farms. I feel so lucky about that. I totally agree with the slow movement and living slow. I made a "live slow" print a while back but never did anything with it because I didn't think people would want it, the way things are sooo fast these days:)

[lucy]

Without doubt, I learn something new from you with each and every post! You are a tremendous inspiration for all things positive in this world :)

As far as your writing and comparing yourself to other writers--just stop right now doing that. You are you and if you write from the heart, write what you are passionate about, you will be a success. If every writer or artist didn't do what it is that's in their heat just because someone does it better, look at all the many, many, many works that would be lost upon our world!!

[michelle]

So. Um. Yeah. Under the pretense of 'not having had time to cook dinner tonight,' I made everyone accompany me on a special trip to Barnes & Noble to get this book.

I'm very excited to start reading it!

(I'm such a follower today)