I’m making my way through Barbara Kingsolver’s book “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle,” and though I was a little put off by the righteousness of their experiment — the gist is that Kingsolver and her family (those are her youngest daughter Lily’s hands holding Christmas beans in the cover photo) moved back to a family farm in southern Virginia, and vowed to live off their land for a year, eating only what was in season — I’m starting to come around.
Interspersed in the narrative are mini-essays by Kingsolver’s daughter and husband about genetically modified foods, why we eat the way we do, and other bits of information that are really opening my eyes. The more I think about how I could do this — eat closer to home, not live off my land for a year! — the more feasible it seems.
To that end, I’ll be at the Memphis Farmer’s Market bright and early tomorrow, because they’ll have eggs — for what might be the first time. (Earlier in the summer, some of my friends were buying fresh eggs literally under the table from some of the farmers there; now I guess they’re legit.)
But I’m going to need more sources than just a once-a-week market. Anyone heard of community supported agriculture (CSA), where you basically “subscribe” to a farmer’s produce, and each month get a box from a local farm? Sounds great, though my source shows only four Tennessee farms, none around here, only one in Mississippi (Lena) and none in Arkansas. How do you find a farmer, anyway? What local stores/stands have good, reasonably priced local food?
Responses to “Think globally, eat locally. But how?”
July 20th, 2007 at 8:02 pm
Christmas beans… I always thought those were flower petals she was holding!
What did they do about protein? I mean, I’m not plucking any chickens or slaughtering any cows… I guess you could just go vegetarian. I’ve always said I could do that if I could just have a Huey burger once a month!
July 22nd, 2007 at 5:49 pm
Melanie, I completely agree with you, both about your skepticism about organics and the pricing of same, though I scored a big bag of Ripleys (not organic, though) yesterday at Easy Way for 77 cents a pound. (Conversely, two heirloom cukes at the Farmer’s Market were a dollar!) Still, I think it would be worthwhile to start talking about how to connect with local farmers in a cost-effective way, not try to do what Kingsolver and her family are doing. You put your finger on one of the things that makes this book alternatively enlightening and annoying!
July 24th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
My favorite part of “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” are the chapters when Kingsolver is trying to coax her turkeys to have sex. Apparently the vast majority of turkeys today are the result of artificial insemination, and they’ve lost their genetic memory of how to mate.
If you like this book, you’ll also enjoy “The Prodigal Summer,” a work of fiction by Kingsolver set in the Appalachian Mountains. It was a hit in my book club.
August 2nd, 2007 at 9:13 am
I’d hardly classify the Memphis Farmer’s Market as having “boutique” pricing. I can buy a weeks worth of veggies for less than $20. I don’t think I could do that at Schnuck’s or Kroger…
August 31st, 2007 at 1:19 pm
I am just over halfway through this book-it is no page turner. There is some enlightening information in this book, and ideas on how to incorporate them into your family life. For instance, there are several u pick fruit farms in the midsouth, but the frost killed off the orchards for this season. Put the heat on your local grocery store to carry home grown organics and artisinal foods. Schnucks on Forest Hill started carrying tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, eggplant etc because their customers kept asking for it!!!!!
July 20th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
Great if you can do it, but the reality is that most people living in the Memphis community cannot afford the “boutique” pricing of the local farmer’s markets or even such places as Wild Oats or Fresh Market, and unless you have a farm of some type, it is unrealistic to expect that anyone can sustainably produce their own food, or even enough vegetables to eat regularly let alone put up stocks for the winter.
Don’t get me wrong – I think it is a great idea and I would love to do it, but I am really trying my best to just to bring my family a healthier diet and use more fresh produce from the local megalomart. I try to choose organic, but I always wonder how much “worse” the non-organic or even the GMO products are, because they definitely cost less.