Book: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

I found this book in the Biography section at Powerbooks and picked it up because I have previously read The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver.  This is about her family's experiment to eat local - i.e. raising, planting the food that they will eat for a whole year, or else buying from local farmers.  I was interested in the concept and was curious about how they were able to manage it.

This book opened with the family moving from Arizona to a farm in Virginia.  Barbara talked about raising chicken and turkey, planting heirloom vegetable breeds, making cheese, etc.  It was all very interesting to me.


While the narrative was good, I appreciate this book more for the ideas that were presented.  We live in a truly global era such that the produce that is grown in one country can easily be made available in other countries.  We enjoy our choices and forget to consider the amount of fuel needed to transport these products to where we are.  We have forgotten the concept of seasonal food because we can get them whenever we want, just because it's in season somewhere in the world.

I've experienced planting/harvesting okra, tomatoes and pechay in my childhood.  We had a yard that also had (and still has) avocado tree, jackfruit, balingbing, guava.  We also raised chicken and pig for some time.  I unfortunately cannot give Neil this experience but I want to take advantage of whatever opportunity I may have to teach my urbanite kid about food origins, that he may have a greater appreciation of the whole process.  Food do not just magically appear in the grocery shelves.

Last Sunday, we attended a wedding at The Mango Farm and I pointed out the mango fruits hanging on the tree to Neil.  Some fruits have fallen to the ground and I picked one up to show him as well.  These things may seem very simple but I hope he starts to get it.

I live in a condo in the city and obviously cannot do anything remotely similar to what the author did but I can be more conscientious about my family's food choices and opt for what will be sustainable in the long run.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Around the Internet 12.09.11

Image
This week's notable links are related to world population.  I tend to be interested in a subject, read about it and discover these links. 7 Billion on National Geographic .  Special series on the world's 7B population, with stories and discussions.  They have a counter of world population as well. 7 Billion Actions .  A site where anyone can upload a story, highlighting positive action.  I was checking through the site and was encouraged by all the good work that people do.  Really, we can be hopeful.  It's just a pity that only the sensational negative stories get highlighted in the media.  Positive stories are found right here.  And thanks to the internet for making this possible. What's Your Number?   7 billion is an overwhelming number.  This site let's you enter your birthday and plots you on the population chart and identifies your specific number (datapoint).  Of course this is not perfect and employs some algorithm to estimate where you are on the cha
Read more

It's Not Complicated: Samson and Delilah, Ruth and Boaz

Image
The last two topics for the preaching series on love entitled 'It's Not Complicated' were on Samson and Delilah, and Ruth and Boaz. ( Podcast here ) Samson and Delilah .  The story of Samson and Delilah can be found in Judges 13.  Before Samson was born, his mother was visited by an angel who said to her, "You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razorbecause the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”  Samson was destined to lead and deliver Israel from its enemies.  But we know that his life was far from simple.  He made personal decisions that changed the course of his life, including marrying Delilah, which eventually led to his death.  It's a tragic story and Pastor Joe explained why it happened to Samson - wrong place, wrong standard, wrong person. Samson, although he was set apart as a Nazirite, spent time in Philistin
Read more

Filipino Friday 3: Reading Habits and Book Formats

Image
Reading Habits and Book Formats . Where and how do you read? Can you read anywhere and everywhere, or do you need a certain place/mood/state of mind to get reading? Do you read more in the morning or at night or any minute that you can? Where and how do you usually read? Are you exclusively for print, or do you go for ebooks more than print? Have you ever tried audiobooks? I am old school.  Even as most books now have digital versions, I still prefer the physical, ink-on-paper variety.  I like holding a real book, flipping the pages and being able to see my progress based on the thickness of read/unread pages.  Somehow, I feel more engaged and focused reading a physical book vs. from a gadget. I very rarely reread books so most of my collection just sit on the shelf after I'm done with them.  I feel it's a waste of precious trees if they are not shared with others.  So I started a Google doc at work where the team can list down their collections and anybody interested in
Read more