Book Review

I recently finished reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. As a foodist, I enjoyed reading about her family's journey and learned so much about the food industry. In her book, Barbara details a year that her family of four spent living as "locovores" on their small farm in Virginia. (For those who are not familiar, locovore refers to someone who eats foods grown locally). They grew a majority of their own food (vegetables, some fruits, chickens, turkeys, eggs) and supported other local farms by purchasing beef, pork, lamb, grains from other local farmers. They made their own bread daily, learned to make their own cheeses, and spent a good deal of time in the fall canning and freezing vegetables to last through the winter. They allowed themselves to purchase a few staples from the grocery but tried to choose foods that were grown in or around their region. They avoided anything that had travelled a long distance from another country or far-away state. Part of the purpose, I'm sure, was to expose the shortcomings of our food industry and try to educate people on the importance of good food in our health and lives.

Many people never give a thought to the food that goes into their mouths. There was definitely a good 25 years that I probably fell into that category, but in the last few years as I taught myself how to cook, I have grown to appreciate and love food. Sometimes food is all I think about now, thanks to Ironman training. Every month I receive 2 magazines in the mail that I find vital to my survival as a home chef. One is Cooking Light magazine. I never have to read the nutrition profile, I know I can pull any recipe out of the magazine and it will be healthy and taste amazing. There are very few recipes that I am not impressed with the outcome. The second is Experience Life magazine, put out by Lifetime Fitness. I find that this magazine focuses on a holistic approach to life and food. Both magazines teach readers about the benefits of different foods, organic food options and living green. As I read Barbara's book I was impressed by her honesty and learned several things that I hope to translate into healthier food habits.

Barbara talks about how the women of her generation couldn't wait to get out of the kitchen and into the work force. They didn't want to be the typical stay at home moms. What they found though is that they were not only working full time jobs, but they were still responsible for a majority of the cooking and child care at home. The food industry saw an opportunity and pounced- pushing fast foods and packaged foods like crazy to women who were tired at the end of a long day and didn't want to take the time to cook. I always think, "would my great-grandmother think this was food?" If the answer is no, then it's likely highly processed and not all that healthy for me. When I was a child my great-grandmother made pancake breakfasts from scratch every Sunday, cooking the pancakes in the grease left over after frying the bacon. These were the best pancakes you've ever tasted, above and beyond anything that comes out of a box. I highly doubt that she would have recognized a Pop Tart as food, or think that eating a frozen TV dinner was acceptable.

My mom didn't like to cook so when I was growing up we ate a variety of easy to make casseroles, chilis and a lot of breakfast dinners. Thankfully she didn't hit the drive through every night like a lot of moms do. She at least cared enough about our nutrition to make an effort, and saved convenience foods for the nights we were out late with dance lessons or various sports practice. Now that my parents are older, they have taken up an enjoyment for cooking. My dad loves to try new things and is always "doctoring up" the recipes. They enjoy entertaining for friends and attending cooking classes together. My mom even survived a cooking boot camp this summer!

I feel lucky to be in this stage of my life for several reasons:
1. Women of my generation are giving more thought to whether or not to have a family, and more and more women (including me) are deciding that they don't need to have children to be complete. Don't get me wrong, my sister's kids are great.... I just don't want any for myself. And truth be known, I'm selfish. I like my life the way that it is. I like my freedom. I like the lifestyle that my husband and I have, and we don't want to give that up. And that's ok. There are millions of women every day who are having babies. The planet doesn't need one from me. This leaves me time to cook and I can cook things that I enjoy eating. I'm not resigned to cleaning up mac & cheese and spaghetti.

2. Women (and men) are enjoying food more and paying more attention to what they eat. There are entire restaurants now devoted to organically grown food, or locally grown food, or vegan or whatever. If you want it, chances are in a metro area you'll find it. And because of "foodie" craze, it's OK and even encouraged to cook at home. And I have discovered that I really like to cook! I remember last year I took my dad to a weekend cooking school in Napa Valley for his 60th birthday. When we were doing introductions we had to say something about our style of cooking or what we enjoyed. I remember the instructor about fell off her chair when I said that I hated boring food, and that I liked to try new things at least 3 times a week. Now, that might be an exaggeration some weeks... but I am lucky to have 3 days a week off of work and I often find myself in the kitchen shortly after lunch digging through recipes in search of the perfect dinner. I do have my favorite go-to recipes that I can whip up in a snap, and we have the old standby's like homemade pizza. But I could spend hours (and I sometimes do) on my day off in the kitchen.

3. People are becoming more aware of the harmful effects of hormones, antibiotics, and chemicals in our food... which means that it's easier to buy whole foods that don't have artificial ingredients in them. The food industry for years has been all about cranking out high volume. Injecting animals with hormones and antibiotics to make them produce more (milk, eggs, meat) and to ward off disease that is common in the conditions which they are raised. It's not rocket science how disease is spread. Would you rather have your meat come from a an animal raised in a healthy environment, or from an animal that's been given antibiotics with it's feed to keep it healthy enough to make it through slaughter? Not much of a choice if you ask me. And don't think you're avoiding the issue by being vegetarian. All of our produce and crops are sprayed with pesticides and grown in soil contaminated by chemical fertilizers-- including grains, fruits, vegetables, etc.

Overall, I thought Animal, Vegetable, Miracle was an enjoyable and informative book. It has definitely made me think about where my food comes from. And though I don't have time or land to raise my own food, I can improve my diet by supporting my local organic vegetable farm and make an effort to purchase meat from local organic farmers. Every week I look forward to my veggie delivery as I never know what's going to be in the bag. I've tried so many new things that I never would have thought to purchase in the past. And for Thanksgiving this year, my family is going to enjoy a local, organic, Heritage breed turkey which from everything I've read is going to taste like no other generic turkey you've ever bought from your grocer's freezer. I'm excited to try it and see!