« Highlight Reel: Christmas 2008 | Main | Give me a Break!!!!! »
December 31, 2008
Book Review: "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle"
I'm ringing in 2009 very quitely, curled up under my "blanket of sleep" with the book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver. I love the stories of her family's journey into producing their own food, or at least obtaining it from the most local source possible for an entire year. Reading about their adventure has me itching for spring and the reappearance of local farmers at the farmer's market. I can imagine tomatoes, strawberries, watermelons and other fruits and veggies fresh from the garden just begging to be consumed. Or perhaps some homemade mozzarella cheese. Saving the planet from certain destruction by exchanging non-genetically modified seeds with other like minded souls sends shivers through me. I feel more wholesome already, simply by having read less than a third of the way into the book.
The reality, however, is that I completely fail at keeping plants alive for very long and only managed to make it to the local farmer's market once in the past year. Something about having to get out of bed early in the morning. Cooking, much less canning, are not in my genetic makeup. The voices inside me argue vehemently over the repulsion of having my diet so closely tied to petroleum products, and my addiction to Starbucks. Living for months without lemon water made from fresh lemons? Unthinkable.
At a time when setting goals, making vows of personal improvement and other such nonsense run rampant I find myself wondering if it's possible to make the occasional attempt to shun the supermarket and buy food directly from the hands of the person who produced it.
Posted by Anna at December 31, 2008 7:22 PM