As Animal, Vegetable, Miracle celebrates its 10th year of being published, I decided to finally give it a try.
Much of what the Kingsolvers put forth about the food industry still rings true.
It was fascinating to hear about the decisions for choosing to only consume food that they are in direct contact with, whether growing it themselves or knowing its origins. This leads to some interesting situations: what do you do when you invite 150 friends and family to your house to celebrate a birthday? How do you make food that you have in abundance during the summer last the whole year?
The book is told through the course of a year with each chapter focusing on a month and what is grown during that time period.
I was pleasantly surprised that Barbara Kingsolver, Steven Hopp, and Camille Kingsolver read their own words, and they do a pretty good job. The down side to listening instead of reading is that you miss seeing the recipes as they are mentioned. However, you can check out animalvegetablemiracle.com for those recipes, as well as pictures of the farm and projects the family is working on. While this may or may not shake your entire food foundation, I am now making an effort to make small changes like going to the farmer's market every so often, and growing a cherry tomato plant. This was an informative and enjoyable listen.