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highly recommended |
Bestselling author Barbara Kingsolver returns with her first nonfiction narrative that will open your eyes in a hundred new ways to an old truth: You are what you eat. "As the U.S. population made an unprecedented mad dash for the Sun Belt, one carload of us paddled against the tide, heading for the Promised Land where water falls from the sky and green stuff grows all around. We were about to begin the adventure of realigning our lives with our food chain. "Naturally, our first stop was to buy junk food and fossil fuel. . . ." Hang on for the ride: with characteristic poetry and pluck, Barbara Kingsolver and her family sweep readers along on their journey away from the industrial-food pipeline to a rural life in which they vow to buy only food raised in their own neighborhood, grow it themselves, or learn to live without it. Their good-humored search yields surprising discoveries about turkey sex life and overly zealous zucchini plants, en route to a food culture that's better for the neighborhood and also better on the table. Part memoir, part journalistic investigation, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle makes a passionate case for putting the kitchen back at the center of family life and diversified farms at the center of the American diet. "This is the story of a year in which we made every attempt to feed ourselves animals and vegetables whose provenance we really knew . . . and of how our family was changed by our first year of deliberately eating food produced from the same place where we worked, went to school, loved our neighbors, drank the water, and breathed the air."
Stunning! 
Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is just that - a miracle! Her most stunning novel to date and amazingly enough, it is NON-fiction! It changed my views totally - I am a much more intelligent shopper and cook and consumer now... and food tastes waaaay better! I am feeling better, too!
5 super stars for Barbara Kingsolver! A MUST read!!!
Becoming a locovore 
The locovore movement - practice of eating locally produced food - is definitely picking up steam, and rightfully so, there are plenty of benefits: economic support for local producers, social and health benefits, and general appreciation for food we consume. The lack of a 'food culture', as Barbara Kingsolver points out, is leading North America down a dangerous track: health problems abound, obesity is on the rise, our dependence on imports is higher than ever.
However, as with any passionate message, there are certainly shades of extremism as well: no you don't have to wear Birkenstocks and swear off supermarket produce, nor make your own cheese. Should you try, if you so desire... of course! At the end of the day, it comes down to your appreciation and need for well tasting food - whatever that means, in your context.
If you have never lived or spent time on a farm, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" is a great window into that universe. The book is well organized and easy to read, just apply sound judgment to the context and the arguments discussed by the authors.
Inspirational, Entertaining and Informative
Barbara Kingsolver knows how to impart her knowledge with a wit and style that keeps you entertained and at the same time makes you want to change the world (or your life, at least).
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle 
I have always been interested in growing things and farming because some of the earlier generations of my family were farmers. I learned much from this book about potatoes and how they grow a green leafy plant when they are ready to pull. I also learned that pineapples don't grow on trees... I didn't know this, they look like tree-fruit to me.
A lot of this book was interesting, and I had much to learn from it. Then there were times where you would get to much farming detail and it got a little boring. Lastly, there were times when they would beat you over the head with how Americans don't eat healthy. Yes ... Yes I raise my hand. I am one of those, but you don't have to keep repeating it. I also picked this book hoping it would give me that kick in the butt to eat healthier, and it didn't really because it's too late for me to start growing my own food, so I just felt bad throughout the book. I have thought about buying locally, but no I haven't don't that either. I had a hard time getting through this book mostly I think because of feeling bad about myself part and because you can only read or listen to a person talk about a certain subject for so long before you have to take a break. I needed lots of breaks.
reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
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based on 307 reviews
