Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (P.S.)

Barbara Kingsolver has written a very important book which everyone should read! It is filled with environmental and nutritional information and it's a fascinating account of the pleasures and trials of feeding oneself and one's family almost entirely with home-grown products!
Of the four of us who listened to this audio cd in the car, nobody thought Kingsolver had a particularly good reading voice, but the material always made up for it! Given the choice though, I'd say read the book.

Barbara Kingsolver does a great job at portraying her year living on a farm, raising her own poultry, growing her own produce, and buying locally without being too preachy or political. The commentary that was include by her husband and daughter was useful and complemented the book. I recommend this for anyone who is curious about why we should eat organic and local foods. It was a very insightful and enjoyable read.

This story of a family's journey into eating local for one year is entertaining, informative, and thought-provoking. While I don't have a farm to take on quite what they have, I will be making local choices for years to come as a result of reading this book.

This book introduced me to Barbara Kingsolver. I liked her writing style so much I went on to read many of her other writings which I also enjoyed.

This book is the story of her family's journey from a rather typical American lifestyle to something far more fulfilling, rewarding, interesting and sustainable. I feared it might be a bit preachy, but I didn't find it to be at all. I found it to be earthy, hearty, informative but not technical, funny (I laughed out loud on several occasions) and yet it had an air of class and charm all at once. It is definitely a "green" book with an underlying sense of urgency, but it was refreshingly subtle compared to similar books I've read. Rather than being filled with "You must all do ___ or the world is going to end!" it was more about "We decided to do ___ for ourselves as a family. It makes sense to us, it feels right and it works very well."

Sometimes I felt like I was on the farm with her, learning for the first time how to coax my own food from the earth and changing at a fundamental level how I contribute my energy, my money, my life to this country I love so much. She seems always to contemplate how her decisions will affect the world around her and act accordingly, and has created a beautiful and bountiful life around that. Go Barbara. I admire you and the life you've created.

Barbara Kingsolver and her family relocated to a homestead in southern Appalachia and resolved to spend a year eating home-grown or locally produced food. What they didn't raise or grow themselves, they bought from local farms.

Kingsolver demonstrates the benefits of sustainable agriculture without coming across as preachy or overly judgemental. I loved the way, with humor and grace, she shows how anyone can add a little local flavor into their diets.

My mom is an avid gardener and a great cook, but I, unfortunately, inherited neither the talent nor the interest to follow in her muddy footsteps. Kingsolver's wonderful narrative has inspired me to, at the very least, support my local farmer's market. Perhaps, I might even attempt a small kitchen garden this year.