''Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life'' (2007) is a non-fiction book by

Barbara Kingsolver Barbara Ellen Kingsolver (born April 8, 1955) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, essayist, and poet. Her widely known works include '' The Poisonwood Bible'', the tale of a missionary family in the Congo, and '' Animal, Vegetable, Mira ...

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 vegetable oil obtained by pressing whole olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea'', a traditional Tree fruit, tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin) and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking for frying foods, as a cond ...

). Kingsolver, along with her husband and daughters, start a farm in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

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, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. ...

, 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 farms, 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 b ...

so it will not spoil. A book excerpt in the May/June 2007 issue of '' Mother Jones'' 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 is also available.

Critical reception

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' 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 technolo ...

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 ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' that "this text will fold quietly into the reader's consciousness, with affecting grace and dignity, because of its prose and sensibilities." Bass also said that "Kingsolver is no pious soapboxer, but instead explores these ideas with enthusiasm and the awe of discovery."

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

Description

Critical reception

See also

References

External links