More than ever, I’m embracing eating seasonally and locally and I’m coming to understand the longing for both fruits and vegetables I’ll have to wait another year to enjoy. “Value is not made of money, but a tender balance of expectation and longing.” A small crate of tangerines, a commodity not grown locally in Virginia, was a holiday splurge and upon watching her daughter delicately peel and savor the fruit, Kingsolver writes a favorite quote of mine from the book: The family’s goal was to live as close to the earth as possible, but never to strive for perfection. Food is political and while this book was published 11 years ago, the issues surrounding our food system and local farmers that are discussed are as relevant, or even more so, today.
Kingsolver dissects and repeatedly comments on the amount of fuel used to transport delicate produce around the world to meet the human craving for out-of-season fruits and veggies. For most of us, every food, as well as food-like-item we could ever want is right at our fingertips at a grocery store less than 2 miles from our homes. As a reader, you experience what life is like and what your plate looks like living one growing season at a time. The jacket on the book tells part of the story, Kingsolver and her family move from Tucson to a farm in Virginia to eat locally, live off of their land, and learn to live without the food they could not grow, make, or find locally for a year.
It’s been recommended to me by countless people and I’m glad I finally turned the first page, and I regret waiting so long to dive in. This book has been on my virtual bookshelf, in my Amazon cart, and pinned on a “books” board on my Pinterest for far too long. Have you ever read a book that aligns so perfectly with your views and personal beliefs that the only thing you can say to someone to recommend the book is, “pick up a copy and read it yourself”? That’s exactly how I feel about Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. It means an open-door policy on the fields, where neighborhood buyers are welcome to come have a look, and pick their food from the vine. It involves farmers with first names, who show up week after week. “Local food is a handshake deal in a community gathering place.
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