a few quotes from an amazing book

I'm reading the most interesting book! It's called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. She's a mainstream author primarily known, I believe, for her novels. Her family adopted a goal to consume local-food only (with a few notable exceptions, such as coffee) for a year. While much of the food they ate was generated at their home (they raised a sizable garden, as well as chickens and turkeys), they also enjoyed the resources of the county in which they lived.

I've not yet finished it, but it's a fascinating read! Aside from a few evolutionary comments, I absolutely love it. Here are a few quotes from it...

"Transporting a single calorie of a perishable fresh fruit from California to New York takes about 87 calories worth of fuel. That's as efficient as driving from Philadelphia to Annapolis, and back, in order to walk three miles on a treadmill in a Maryland gym. There may be people who'd do it. Pardon me while I ask someone else to draft my energy budget." (pg. 68)


"Of the 400 million turkeys Americans consume each year, more than 99 percent of them are a single breed: the Broad-Breasted White,a quick-fattening monster bred specifically for the industrial-scale setting. ... If a Broad-Breasted White should escape slaughter, it likely wouldn't live to be a year old: they get so heavy, their legs collapse. In mature form they're incapable of flying, foraging, or mating. That's right, reproduction. ... For turkeys, the scheme that gave them an extremely breast-heavy body and ultra-rapid growth has also left them with a combination of deformity and idiocy that renders them unable to have turkey sex. Poor turkeys." (pg. 90)

"Grocery money is an odd sticking point for U.S. citizens, who on average spend a lower proportion of our income on food than people in any other country, or any heretofore in history. In our daily fare, even in school lunches, we broadly justify consumption of tallow-fried animal pulp on the grounds that it's cheaper than whole grains, fresh vegetables, hormone-free dairy, and such. Whether on school boards or in families, budget keepers may be aware of the health tradeoff but still feel compelled to economize on food - in a manner that would be utterly unacceptable if the health involved an unsafe family vehicle or a plume of benzene running through a school basement." (pg. 115)

"Insisting to farmers that our food has to be cheap is like commanding a ten-year-old to choose a profession and move out of the house now. It violates the spirit of the enterprise. It guarantees bad results. The economy of the arrangement will come around to haunt you. Anyone with a working knowledge of children would see the flaw in that parenting strategy. Similarly, it takes a farmer to understand the analogous truth about food production - that time and care yield quality that matters - and explain that to the rest of us. Industry will not, but individual market growers can communicate concern that the're growing food in a way that's healthy and safe, for people and place. They can educate consumers about a supply chain that's as healthy or unhealthy as we choose to make it." (pg. 116-117)

I find that I'm being really challenged in the idea of eating locally as much as possible. It makes me shudder to think of all those bananas from South America!

We've signed up to be a part of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) this summer. I am thrilled down to my toes. Beginning in June, we'll enjoy a basket of local, fresh produce every week. It'll be a challenge to learn to cook and eat vegetables we've (likely) never tried before. I am very much a creature of habit when it comes to veggies. But I'm really excited about taking this on -- and besides, they provide recipes!

To find a CSA near you, go to the Local Harvest website by clicking here.