Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (P.S.) | 
 enlarge | Authors: Barbara Kingsolver, Camille Kingsolver, Steven L. Hopp
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  231 reviews
Sales Rank: 117
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.1 x 1.1
ISBN: 0060852569
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.0973
EAN: 9780060852566
ASIN: 0060852569
Publication Date: May 1, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
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| Also Available In:
| • | Hardcover - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life | | • | Audio CD - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle CD: A Year of Food Life | | • | Paperback - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle LP | | • | Audio Cassette - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, Library Edition | | • | Audio CD - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, Library Edition | | • | Audio Download - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (Unabridged) | | • | Kindle Edition - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle | | • | Hardcover - ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, MIRACLE: A YEAR OF FOOD LIFE |
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Product Description
Author Barbara Kingsolver and her family abandoned the industrial-food pipeline to live a rural life—vowing that, for one year, they'd only buy food raised in their own neighborhood, grow it themselves, or learn to live without it. Part memoir, part journalistic investigation, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is an enthralling narrative that will open your eyes in a hundred new ways to an old truth: You are what you eat.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 226 more reviews...
 Tells it like it is!!! May 15, 2008
Loved this new book. Barbara gets down to the real truth about our food(?) industry. Most people in this country have no idea what they're really eating and probably won't believe it when they're told. She did an outstanding job in presenting the facts in a well told story about ONE growing season in Virginia. As she points out - we've lost the knowledge of how to grow our own food in only 2 generations. My mother was raised on a farm and always talked of how good the food tasted. No - it's not as easy as going to the 'supermarket' but everything from chickens to greens taste better when you don't pump them full of chemicals and then ship them thousands of miles. I've grown everything from eggplants to zucchini in pots on the deck of my patio home. Now we have nearly 50 chickens(some with names) that help keep the grasshopper population in control on the acreage we've since moved to. They and their eggs are beyond anything you can buy in the grocery stores. Great job Barbara! Hopefully people will start paying heed to the footprint they leave and ,ultimately, their health.
 I only wish it were longer! May 15, 2008
Barbara Kingsolver left me wanting more when I finished reading this book. I learned so much and was also charmed by her entertaining style of writing. I loved the parts about her daughter's chickens who laid multicolored eggs, her trip to visit a cheesemaker (she inspired me to make my own yogurt which I now do on a regular basis), her description of her kitchen invaded by hundreds of tomatoes in August, and especially the very informative sections in which she taught me about the importance of species diversity in the plant world and how terrible it is for Big Companies to prosecute seed savers. But perhaps what's best about the book is that it does not give a doom and gloom feeling at all. You finish the book feeling hopeful... inspired... and ready to eat some yummy organic greens or an organic hamburger! Very well done, Barbara. You are awesome.
Engaging book May 14, 2008
I loved this book, but then, I've been a fan of hers for many years. I'm a gardener, and I found it very engaging from start to finish. Perhaps it's not something that all of us can do. I don't own a farm and never will but I do have a back yard and I'm raising some of my own food. I also frequent our local farmer's market where I can get many things I am not able to grow myself. Changing our way of life happens one step at a time. I figure if this book inspires a few thousand people to start a small home garden, we're all better off. Even people in cities can take part in community gardens. There are lots of possibilties out there. Bravo, Ms. Kingsolver!
Faith in good food May 12, 2008
This book would rank as a Master's thesis on the author's year of research as a locavore when compared to introductory works on food such as Harvest for Hope and the Omnivore's Dilemma. Having set aside Christianity in the Poisonwood Bible (much as the author of Infidel set aside Islam) Barbara Kingsolver now preaches about her commitment to eating local food. Her new faith that a family that plucks feathers together and eats healthy food will be fortified to face life and thrive. Her family members provide varied perspectives often incorporating humor. Several laugh-out-loud moments involved her description of turkey mating.
At times I felt exposed to too much detail about asparagus tomato zucchini goats and squash but I feel more inclined to pick up fresh produce at the Farmer's Market and will try some of her recipes and preservation techniques. Her argument against a vegetarian lifestyle was a big surprise worth the price of this book. If you have questioned the sustainability of spending non renewable petroleum to ship food and water around the globe, you will find wise alternatives in this book.
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel (P.S.), Infidel, Harvest for Hope: A Guide to Mindful Eating
 Could have been a magazine article May 12, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I like the message of this book and I consider myself an environmentalist. I eat mostly organic and natural foods. However, I find Kingsolver's tone to be overly preachy for most of the book. I agree that we all need to take actions to change the cultural norms of our country but I don't think it's always as easy as she makes it sound. We don't all have the luxury of owning a large plot of land in a favorable growing climate. Also, her logic is failed at several points in the book. In her defense of eating meat, Kingsolver uses goats in marginal parts of Africa to justify the need for non-vegetable food sources. Okay, if you live in Africa I'll buy that explanation. But, that's not a good argument for somebody living where growing plants is not a problem. She seems unwilling to admit that raising livestock can be a drain on energy and a major source of pollution. Her defense of tobacco farming also seems a little stretched. Yes, it provides jobs, but what are the costs? I find it annoying when somebody thinks that they have all of the answers. Even more annoying is when they try to convince you that there is one silver bullet for fixing all problems. The isolationism that Kingsolver advocates can lead to more issues. Trading with other countries in a responsible manner (labor laws, environmental regulations, etc.) can give the people in those countries a chance at a better life that they would not otherwise get. Kingsolver should open an economics book and read about the concept of comparative advantage. You don't have to do everything for yourself. And it doesn't kill the U.S. to have economic ties to other countries. We may just build some friendships that way. In the end we're all tied together on this planet. The basic ideas of this book are worthwhile and I'm glad that they're getting some attention. But, an article in a magazine could have gotten across the same point without beating the reader over the head so many times. Finally, I enjoyed Camille's sections the most because she seemed more down to earth and in touch with reality.
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