Eating seasonally is something Americans are largely unaware of. One goes to the grocery store and find rows and rows of fresh produce from all over the world. Strawberries, asparagus, and tomatoes are available year ’round, instead of only in the spring. While this seems normal, in the larger history of humans, this is actually abnormal. For centuries, people ate locally grown foods in season and preserved as much as they could for the cold months.
Last year Recycla read the excellent book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver. For one year, Kingsolver and her family ate only local foods in season. They either grew the foods themselves or purchased them from local people. That also meant that they gave up M&Ms, soda, chips, and most other junk foods — not inconsiderable when you consider that Kingsolver has an elementary school aged daughter and one in college.
Kingsolver wrote, “This is the story of a year in which we made every attempt to feed ourselves animals and vegetables whose provenance we really knew … and of how our family was changed by our first year of deliberately eating food produced from the same place where we worked, went to school, loved our neighbors, drank the water, and breathed the air.”
Month by month, the reader learns how the family ate foods that were in season or had been stored for later use. One surprise for them was that it was actually harder to feed themselves in the summer than in the winter. Read the book to find out why.
Animal Vegetable Miracle is a combination of memoir and investigative journalism, as the family researches food issues, including organic vs. conventional, genetically modified vs. heirloom vegetables, and local vs. international supply.
This is not a dry read, however, as there are many entertaining anecdotes. For example, with great humor and honesty, Kingsolver discusses the sex lives of her turkeys. Really. Don’t worry, it’s not bird porn.
In the meantime, while it would be nice to have strawberries in March, everyone will have to be patient a little longer. Yes, you could go to the store and buy berries, however they would be flavorless and not worth the money spent. Avoid the crappy berries, tasteless tomatoes, and overpriced asparagus. Be patient and wait for the good stuff in a few months. You are worth it.
