Monday, February 20, 2012

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Could you live an entire year eating locally or the food from your garden? Barbara Kingsolver transplanted her family from the deserts of Arizona to the mountains of Virginia for their endeavor. Join From Left to Write on February 21as we discuss the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. As a member of From Left to Write, I received a copy of the book. All opinions are my own.

I have to admit that I really couldn't find myself getting into this book. Not that the subject matter doesn't seem incredibly interesting; but more the fact that right now my head is filled with problems and dilemmas and a lot of pressure at work and I find when I do have some free time to read that I really don't want to read non-fiction or instructional books. I want to get lost in a great mystery or love story. Something that takes me far, far away from real life.

That being said, I did read the first three chapters and that was enough to give me some inspiration for a post. As a member of From Left to Write we don't actually write reviews of the books we receive; instead we write a post inspired from the book itself.

Photo taken on my cell phone at one of our many, many, many stops at Rest Areas.

The book and the reason for it coincides with a recent trip that I took to Arizona with my mom and my sister Lisa. On the way while travelling through miles and miles and miles of beautiful desert my mom was inspired to share stories of her childhood with us. Normally when we would take long car trips as children it was my dad who would do all the talking. He would tell us wonderful stories of when he was a fighter pilot in the war (which he never was, he was just great at inventing stories to keep us kids occupied and avoid the inevitable "Are we there yet?" questions.)

But this trip, since my mother had our ears she started telling us stories about the things she used to eat as a child. To give you a little background on my mother, she hates food...plain and simple. Nothing would give her more joy than to have a little pill invented that would provide all the nourishment and vitamins she needs to survive and stay healthy. She's never loved cooking and sometimes just the thought having to decide on what eat when her body begs her for food even when her mind is rebelling against the thought, can make her physically sick. Let me tell you, it's not easy being me when you have to be around my mom. I joke that we're a sad pair as she HAS to eat and doesn't want ANYTHING and I want EVERYTHING and shouldn't eat ANYTHING!

So my sister and I were curious if my mom had always been such a picky eater and what she ate as a child. She said she mainly ate a lot of beans, refried with tortillas. But that she could remember as a special treat when they were able to get their hands on zucchini squash that her mother would cut them into rounds and dry them by inserting them into the needles of cactus growing up around their home. They would also grow what vegetables they could in the dry Texas land they lived on and trade with neighbors. I think of how much work that must have been. In those days the family's sole job was to come up with enough food just to feed their family!

I can't imagine myself in this day and age working 8 hours a day and then having to come home and work in a garden to raise my family's food and then picking it and cleaning it and cooking it and canning it, day after day? I see that when I buy a loaf of bread it can last for a month without any mold growing on it when back in the day I can remember my mom buying bread and if we didn't eat it within a week it was be all moldy and gross. So I understand that there are tons of preservatives and other chemicals in the foods we consume. But do I honestly want to come home and bake my own bread when I can swing by any grocery store and buy a fresh loaf? Let me answer that with a resounding "NO".

My dad was a farmer all his life. I've written posts before about all the crops that he would grow from Bell Peppers to Apricots so I know first hand how delicious fresh tomatoes straight from the field taste. I know that when I first had my daughter April that I used to buy vegetables and make her baby food for her as I wanted her only to have the best and the healthiest and the freshest. But do I want to work as hard as the Kingsolvers just to put food on the table for my family? Well, not at this point in my life, but I applaud all the young parents out there that buy organic or grow their own produce...but for me at this point in my life, my kids are all grown up and it's hard enough getting my mom to JUST EAT, let alone eat healthy!

20 comments:

  1. my mom wishes we only needed a pill too! i love food as much as you do...

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    1. I hate the thought of a pill only because food is soooo delicious, but it would be nice to be able to take a pill and have our tummies and our minds completely satisfied plus our bodies completely fulfilled. That would probably be one really expensive pill tho...lol.

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  2. When growing organic food and doing all the prep and canning and cleaning and etc etc...it probably is helpful to have some huge royalty checks rolling in from all your novels so that you don't have to worry with those basic economic realities that the rest of us are swamped with.

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    1. Wonderfully put Sextant.

      I think we too often are forced to feel guilty for not living up to certain standards. For example...Martha Stewart, and I don't mean her little stint in prison, but we watch her show and see her making her own soap and lip gloss and we feel bad that we're so unorganized and lazy that we don't do the same thing while working a full time job.

      Then we see someone like the Kardashians that are always immaculately dressed, makeup and hair perfect, gorgeous figures and we think that we need to eat less and work out more and we too can look like them.

      But their lives, both Martha's and the Kardashians consist of doing nothing but promoting their public persona, while our lives are just a struggle to get through each day.

      Do I feel bad eating chicken strips from McDonalds rather that raising my own hens and butchering them and defeathering them and cutting them up and making my own home made chicken strips whilst using all the bones and other scraps to make home made chicken stock and the feathers to create elaborate down pillows or feathered head-dresses to decorate my home? Hell no, give me McDonalds chicken strips anytime and the time to watch Martha and the Kardashian's on TV! Plus the time to read a blog here and there as well as write one!

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    2. Wonderfully put Alicia! More wonderfully so than I!

      When considering the lives of the rich and famous, remember one thing, you have something they will never be able to buy with all their zillions...anonymity. How would like to have your own flock of paparazzi stalking your every move?

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    3. Boy Howdy are you ever right. Anonymity I have in spades...lol. Seriously, no...I would not like to have someone following me around with cameras all the time. Heck, sometimes I get irritated just having family and co-workers around me all the time!

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  3. My parents are farmers. Both sides of my family, my grandparents were farmers. And although I appreciate it, I can fully accept that I will never be a farmer. It's not what I love. Fortunately, there are others who do! I've considered getting a bread maker, (and I may still in the future), but your post makes me thankful that we get bread that will mold if you don't eat it in a week-- I even had to check and lo and behold! It's even advertised as preservative free. Woohoo! Doing something right and I didn't even know (; Thank you for sharing this post, because it helps me feel like I don't have to feel guilty for not wanting to give it -all- up.

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    1. I come from a long line of farmers too! But it's not my thing either, but I so admire and appreciate those that love to farm and garden.

      I've baked bread before, but I bought the frozen loaves in the freezer section. Then you thaw them out and place them under a dish towel in your car for warmth to rise, then you bake them! I find when I do this I eat more bread, so that's why I don't do it often!

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  4. I refuse to feel guilty for eating oranges from Florida, Strawberries from California or dates from who-knows-where. There are people who make a religion out of the local food movement. I like to support local farmers and always buy at the farmers' market in summertime, but it's just not possible to do that year round. My grandmother would have given her eye teeth for the variety of healthy food we take for granted. We're so lucky!

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    1. Amen Sista! I totally agree. I think there is just too much "shame, shame, shame" going on. We have to feel guilty about everything we do and say and eat and want. I know that when I was a child I didn't know what an artichoke was, or an asparugus or a cantaloupe or honey dew or mandarin orange. I grew up a poor farmers child in Arizona! I knew what cactus and beans were....lol. It's sad to deprive a child of not knowing what a pomegranite or a banana tastes like just because they aren't grown locally! We are very lucky to have such a wide variety of foods to choose from. I'm not gonna spend time feel guilty!

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  5. I'm glad that my mom made me try all those new foods. Being a picky eater is hard! I hope my kids grow out of their pickiness.

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    1. My son was pretty picky and my sister has a son that is picky. My co-worker has a daughter that is very picky too. A long time ago, after my kids were grown up I think it was a Dr. Phil show that I was watching and a lady was complaining about how her son would only eat Pizza, Chicken Nuggets and Cereal. So Dr. Phil asked her how the son got this food? The mom said, well I buy it because he won't eat anything else. And he said...if you don't buy it won't he have to eat what you feed him? Eventually he's going to get hungry enough that he's going to eat that baked chicken with broccoli or salad right? And that's true. We as parents have to be the ones to make sure our kids eat right. Of course that's easy for me to say cause my kids are 25 and 30...lol. I wish I had watched that Dr. Phil program when they were little, they might have grown up to be healthier young adults now.

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  6. My friend who doesn't work grows an incredible garden and he and his wife are able to eat from it nearly year round. I think it would be pretty difficult for the average person who has to work to be able to eat 100% local food.

    I wouldn't mind reading that book. I'm sure I'd find it pretty interesting.

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    1. I sometimes sit and fantasize about all the things I could do if I didn't have to be at work 8 hours a day plus having a 25 to 30 minute commute to and back from work each day.

      I see all these bloggers that cook and photograph these beautiful meals and set gorgeous tables filled with the fruits of their labors in gardens, and I'm just racked with guilt that sometimes I barely have the energy to fix a quick salad and sit in front of the tv or computer to eat it...lol.

      Imagine all the time we would have if we never had to work or eat, and all the money we would have if we never had to eat. But...would you want to live without ever eating a warm slice of peach pie with a scoop of cold vanilla ice cream on top?

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  7. Alicia-I loved your write-up and unapologetic attitude. Its honest and genuine. While we might not share the same view on food-the dialogue is what gets people talking and I think that's what's important with such a complicated issue. Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts!
    Alison

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    1. Thanks Alison, I enjoyed your post too about the difference in how we eat and what foods you can find in India. We are very lucky to be able to enjoy so much fresh fruit, produce and meats here even if they aren't locally grown.

      Many people love gardening and preparing fresh meals, just like many people love riding their bikes or walking to work to save gas. I guess we all have to do our part, however small and contribute to reduce our carbon footprint.

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  8. I can't imagine not liking food. I just love it so much... Maybe it was because I was raised in a house where my mom cooked everything and grew up in a culture where food was meant to be shared and enjoyed in abundance. I love cooking and try to create as much from scratch as I can, but it's not for everyone.

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    1. I can't imagine not liking food either. My mom will tell me she is hungry but nothing appeals to her so I tell her, "Well then you aren't hungry cause when someone is hungry everything sounds good to them!" It's very frustrating, trust me. Plus mom eats like a little bird but she eats every couple of hours and she invites me to join her. 40 pounds ago I decided to put a stop to that...lol. But it's not easy.

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  9. I can't recall meeting an adult who hates food; your mother is a special lady in this respect too. Anyway, I think there are 'food' pills on the market, but these are used in emergency cases of anorexia.

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    1. She just has no appetite DUTA, and food has never been a big part of her life. I've not heard of these food pills before. While they might have all the vitamins and ingredients she needs to keep her healthy I doubt they would fill her tummy, small as it is. She does drink a nutrition supplement called Boost once per day which is good as it does provide many nutrients that refried beans and tortillas do not.

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Please leave a comment.I would love to know your thoughts!