Today we start our discussion of Barbara Kingsolver's
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Telling the story of her family's experiment at being locavores for a year, this book turns one's thoughts to the food we eat. Kingsolver and her family chose to move to an area where they could connect with the community and the land. Their goal was to grow or raise most of their own food and get the rest as locally as possible. In essence, they took the plunge to put into practice their commitment to sustainability, family, and community. Personally, this was one of the most engaging books I read this past year. I enjoyed her storytelling ability to chronicle their day to day adventures and struggles and still manage to be engaging as they detailed the ecological, economic, and justice reasons for why they chose to do this.
In her own words -
"This is the story of a year in which we made every attempt to feed ourselves animals and vegetables whose provenance we really knew . . . and of how our family was changed by our first year of deliberately eating food produced from the same place where we worked, went to school, loved our neighbors, drank the water, and breathed the air."
For more information about the book and eating local, check out the book's website at
www.animalvegetablemiracle.com.
To kick off our discussion, I have a few questions -
- Have you ever considered where your food comes from or done the research to find out?
- Is eating healthy, ethically, and humanely a priority for you as a Christian?
- What do you know about sustainability and eating locally?
I look forward to our discussion this month as we use this narrative to explore these issues.
Labels: Animal Vegetable Miracle, Book Discussions, environment
