In high school, I think I read about one-third of the way through Barbara Kingsolver’s novel, The Bean Trees before I put it down in disgust. I was just getting to the part where the protagonist, a single mother, and her young daughter hop into their Volkswagen Beetle, with all their worldly possessions and head out across the Arizona desert – in search of new beginnings… BARF! I don’t know if that is exactly how the story went – I tried to block it from my mind – but my 16 year old brain couldn’t handle all that ra-ra-feminist sentimentality. (I doubt my older, more mature brain could handle it now, either.) I wrote off Barbara Kingsolver from that day forward, vowing never to waste time with another one of her books.
It is for that reason alone, actually, that I put off reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, her newest non-fiction title – despite all the good press it was receiving and my interest in the subject of local food. Imagine my surprise when I unwrapped this book as a gift in my Christmas stocking. Against all my personal aversions – I was then obligated to give it a read.
This novel is about Mrs. Kingsolver and her family’s decision to eat only food grown within 100 hundred miles of their home for one entire year. No potato chips. No frozen pizzas. Not even cans of tomato soup. Only food grown by them or their local Appalachian friends.
The result of this decision for the family is a lot of cooking, a lot of farming and a lot of trail by fire. All of that is wonderfully captured by Mrs. Kingsolver in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. She shows her family’s struggles and their victories in a way that is honest to the difficulties of the endeavor but encouraging in a way that makes this lifestyle seem accessible for anyone. And, thankfully, she does that without getting preachy or self-righteous, a common flaw in books like this. Furthermore, the stories present facts and resources that make for an educated and empowered reader. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in local food or anyone who wants to pass this along to the uninitiated.
Bravo Barbara, I’m a convert.
