''Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life'' (2007) is a non-fiction book by
Barbara Kingsolver
Barbara Kingsolver (born April 8, 1955) is an American novelist, essayist and poet. She was raised in rural Kentucky and lived briefly in the Congo in her early childhood. Kingsolver earned degrees in biology at DePauw University and the Univers ...
detailing her family's attempt to eat only locally grown food for an entire year.
Description
The book revolves around the concept of improving the family's diet by eating only foods that her family was able to grow themselves or obtain locally (save for grains and
olive oil
Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: f ...
). Kingsolver, along with her husband and daughters, start a farm in
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
where they grow and
can different varieties of tomatoes, learn about rooster
husbandry
Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starti ...
, make cheese, and adjust to eating foods only when they are locally in season. The book contrasts this with the ecological costs of growing food in
factory farm
Intensive animal farming or industrial livestock production, also known by its opponents as factory farming and macro-farms, is a type of intensive agriculture, specifically an approach to animal husbandry designed to maximize production, while ...
s, transporting it thousands of miles, and adding chemical
preservatives
A preservative is a substance or a chemical that is added to products such as food products, beverages, pharmaceutical drugs, paints, biological samples, cosmetics, wood, and many other products to prevent decomposition by microbial growth or by ...
so it will not spoil.
A book excerpt in the May/June 2007 issue of ''
Mother Jones
Mary G. Harris Jones (1837 (baptized) – November 30, 1930), known as Mother Jones from 1897 onwards, was an Irish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent union organizer, community organizer, and activist. She h ...
'' magazine is available online. An audio recording of a May 16, 2007 discussion between Kingsolver and her husband at an hour-long bookstore presentation in
Corte Madera, California
Corte Madera (; Spanish for "Chop Wood") is an incorporated town in Marin County, California. Corte Madera is located south of San Rafael, at an elevation of 39 feet (12 m). The population was 10,222 at the 2020 census. The town was named after ...
is also available.
Critical reception
''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine's
Lev Grossman
Lev Grossman (born June 26, 1969) is an American novelist and journalist who wrote ''The Magicians Trilogy'': '' The Magicians'' (2009), '' The Magician King'' (2011), and '' The Magician's Land'' (2014). He was the book critic and lead technolog ...
named it one of the Top 10 Nonfiction Books of 2007, ranking it at #7.
Grossman, Lev; Top 10 Nonfiction Books; time.com
/ref> Rick Bass wrote in ''The Boston Globe'' that "this text will fold quietly into the reader's consciousness, with affecting grace and dignity, because of its prose and sensibilities."
See also
* Locavore
Local food is food that is produced within a short distance of where it is consumed, often accompanied by a social structure and supply chain different from the large-scale supermarket system.
Local food (or "locavore") movements aim to con ...
* Local food
Local food is food that is produced within a short distance of where it is consumed, often accompanied by a social structure and supply chain different from the large-scale supermarket system.
Local food (or "locavore") movements aim to co ...
References
External links
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle official websiteGood Eatin' Barbara Kingsolver grows her own, the Boston Phoenix
{{DEFAULTSORT:Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year Of Food Life
American non-fiction books
2007 non-fiction books
Health and wellness books
Sustainability books
Organic food
Rural community development
Books by Barbara Kingsolver
Books about Appalachia
Books about food and drink
HarperCollins books