Book

Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is fantastic. She and her family left Tucson as they became increasingly aware of how the expanding city was taking a toll on the land. They moved to a farm in rural southern Virginia with the goal of feeding themselves from their own land. The book covers some of the same territory as The Omnivore's Dilemma, but I'm enjoying it more because it's scattered with anecdotes about their family's adjustment and what they learned along the way.

She describes the limitations and advantages of local, seasonal eating, touches on the Slow Food movement, explores the science behind farming and the many things farmers have to know and do, notes that many heirloom varieties of plants and stock are vanishing due to large-scale agriculture... the book is packed with interesting information. Her husband wrote short essays about environmental and ethical issues and her daughter wrote about what the experience was like for her, and included recipes they came up with to use seasonal produce.

I'm only halfway through the book but I highly recommend it.