Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - Tenth Anniversary Edition: A Year of Food Life

I loved all Barbara Kingsolver's books before I read this one, so I figured it would be a perfect read for me since I became really interested in homesteading and growing my own food. Prepare to find yourself scolded for a good half of the book. I'm not actually sure who WOULD like this book, since I sort of thought I'd be her prime audience as someone who believes in eating local and organic (proud to be a part of a CSA that supports growers within my state of CA only) and who genuinely loves all plants. Boy was I wrong. I was to spend hours and hours reading the author's searing criticism of anyone who has the audacity to eat food without having grown it themselves. God forbid someone grow up in an area where there wasn't miles and miles of fertile soil to plant things in. Anyway, long story short - stick with her fiction novels and read literally any other book about eating locally or growing food. Seriously - any book is better than this one.

I didn't think I'd like this book, but I should have known that Ms Kingsolver would rise to the occasion. I truly enjoyed the tongue in cheek criticism of urban dwellers who don't know where their food comes from especially since I was one. Since moving to my parent's farm in my near thirtys then having to move away I have come to miss the farm life and the peace and security of being able to walk out your back door and feed yourself.Thank you for reminding me of probably the best times of my life.

I have been a fan of Barbara Kingsolver for years. I am amazed that this book slipped under the radar for me 10 years ago. I am so glad I just newly discovered it just a month ago. I have a great grandfather whose family were multigenerational farmers on the outskirts of Rome for many years. They were one of many small farms who did and still do feed Rome with low intensity “hand made” food production. I am an urban architect in San Diego and am now trying to incorporate small scale urban farming to some of our new projects so the next generation can understand where there food comes from. These are net zero, affordable housing and projects from a fossil fuel standpoint. This book is a perfect resource for my projects.

I am glad I chose this book, but closer beware that when Kingsolver is on a roll, she can get preachy. Despite that tendency, when writing about the farm, the poultry project (check out the website for some amazing photos of the turkeys)., she is a witty and passionate writer. The recipes are delicious and the 10th year update informative. I want to visit Meadowview, VA.I might not be as convinced as Kingsolver is about the dire future of this planet, but I am thinking about the transportation cost of food I will think twice about buying bananas, mangos,and avocados, and blueberries in May. That said, I don't think it's possible, in the frozen wasteland of Western NY, to replicate the experiment.I would have liked some kind of guide as to what to plant when and what to look for at farmer's markets.

Kingsolver invites us to her family's garden and table as they spend a year eating pretty much only what they or people they know in their area grow. I first read this years ago thanks to a book club suggestion, and I keep recommending it and buying more copies for friends who are interested in knowing more about sustainable living. The format works -- Kingsolver writes the main narrative, with her husband writing sidebars for facts and figures of the big picture of American agribusiness and her daughter writes recipe sidebars -- that are good, too! Chew on this book for a while, and you'll find yourself making different and more informed choices about your own food -- and, as Stephen assures us in one of his sidebars -- even one local meal a week for every American family would decrease fossil fuel use and increase local farmer -- and your own family's -- health.

This was a wonderful book that will change the way you look at food, how it is grown, processed, transported and satisfies our nutritional and emotional needs.

This book is a story of the transformation of one family from a supermarket driven life to the life of a locavore, celebrating local food, eating in rhythym with the seasons and relishing the changing bounty of the land. I know a lot about growing my own food, sustainable eating and am spoiled by the glorious bounty of the Bay Area in Northern California. Had I read this book years ago when it first came out this might be a 5, but now I give it three stars, the concept is good but it lacks focus, leaving out the recipes we crave that would make real the beauty and depth of locally sustainable flavors. There is a choppiness to the narrative that lessens its power. I appreciate the concept, but I find myself wishing this book had been more of what I wanted, a vehicle to make me ache with all my heart for the possibilities I feel looking down at local vegetables on my kitchen counter and my heart opening to a world of memory and possibility.

After reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, I fundamentally changed my approach to buying / growing / eating food - hopefully for the better! I keep buying copies for friends. It's inspirational, informative and honest, an account that doesn't flinch from exposing real life's nitty-gritties, and most importantly, explaining WHY it worked well for them as a family, not saying it's the right thing or feasible for everyone (though everyone I know who has read it is a convert...). The huge added bonus is that Barbara Kingsolver is such a brilliant writer so it's a great read, AND, I really enjoyed the occasional interventions from Barbara's husband and daughter - a proper family project. Useful info, fabulous recipes (they work, I've tried them).

This book is about the year that Barbara Kingsolver and her family moved to some land in Virginia and tried to eat as locally as possible for a year. Much of it, they grew themselves, or bought from local farmers and suppliers. In the end, she reckoned they used about an acre of land for their family of 3 (sometimes 4 when the university student returned home for holidays); compared to the estimate of 4.8 acres per family in the US (much of which is used for growing high fructose corn syrup that comprises 219 gallons of soda that this hypothetical family consumes annually).It's organised seasonally, looking at the high's and low's of each month, and is written in narrative form. There are stories of buying chicks and baby turkeys, of planting seeds, of hunting for morels, of visiting other farmers and the region of Tuscany and what she learned from them, and -- what I found to be funniest of all -- how courgettes can overwhelm one's life.Each chapter is punctuated by sidebars, one of which is written by her husband and usually considers a political issue like how patented seeds are expensive and can't be saved from one year to the next (and allegedly contaminate non-GM crops, thus putting organic growers out of business); the other is written by her older daughter, and includes recipes for the seasonally available crops for that month.Not only was the book informative, inspiring, and eye-opening, it was also just a joy to read. The author, Barbara Kingsolver, is an excellent writer, filling her narrative with passages like this:"I watched a few hundred gallons of Jersey milk throbbing and flowing upward through the maze of clear, flexible pipes like a creamy circulatory system."Now about the available editions of the book. Originally, my friend loaned me the paperback, but I found the print to be uncomfortably small (it was all right with reading glasses, but harder with my varifocals).Instead, I returned the paperback to her and bought a Kindle version for myself, because then I could alter the size of the type as I wanted. The downside with the Kindle edition is that the sidebars don't show up in an obvious way. I'll be reading along, then there will be some slight change of voice and focus, followed by the husband's name in small letters, and I realise I've been reading a sidebar for the last page or two. The paperback has the sidebars indicated in a much better way -- slightly grey background and boxed.My preference would be for a paperback with larger print. There's so much referencing I'd like to do, and I just don't ever find the Kindle cuts it on that front. I guess, however, being a 384-page book already, they wouldn't want to make it any larger by altering the print size.

Magical writing of an extraordinary year. It will inspire you to become more self-sufficient and ask more questions about how you live.Barbara's writing is always really readable, and there is humour and great recipes. I also highly recommend the audio book as listening to the authors tell their story brings this personal adventure to life.

Like a good meal this book should be read slowly and digested. Extremely well written with thought provoking facts and great recipes. Barbara Kingsolver does not preach but tells it as it is, the up and downs of producing your own food and buying locally in season produced food.The downside is that this book is unlikely to be enjoyed by anyone who has not already questioned where their food comes from and wishes to make changes to their eating and buying habits.I enjoyed every page of this book and was sorry when I finished it, It is now on loan to friends with a waiting list of other people wishing to read it.

Although the context is North American, and very different from Britain, nevertheless this exuberant tale of growing, preserving, and eating locally grown and home grown food is inspiring. Immense hard work, a determination to stick to the principle come what may ( such as what fruit can you get in february - oh yes, rhubarb! ) and an immensely cheerful disposition gets this family through.We also learn disturbing facts about commercial food production, at least in the States. A wonderful, inspiring book.