I wrote a review of Fields of Plenty: http://goodwordswan.wildflowerst...elds-of-plenty/
It's about one farmer's view, after traveling all summer long visiting other small farms all across the country, of how the local food production scene is shaping up. It's got photos and recipes, too. A delightful book!
Thanks for the tip...that sounds really terrific. And can I just say your blog's main quote--Edward Abbey's "Us nature mystics got to stick together" will delight my mom? She's very much a "nature mystic".
Just found Sustainable Tucson:
http://www.sustainabletucson.org/
Sounds like an interesting organization for anyone in the Tucson, AZ area...and there might be some ideas on their site that could be transferred to other communities!
I lived in Tucson in 2005-2006. The food bank has (or did then) a large field where they grow all kinds of organic veggies. Imagine that!
See...that's the other thing, sometimes one dominant story about a place over-rides all the other good stories there waiting to be told. Too bad, too...because look what I found about the Tucson "Community Demonstration and Market Garden":
http://communityfoodbank.com/pro...-market-garden/
The Tucson Community Food Bank also hosts a Farmer's Market...where folks can use food stamps and WIC...now, how great is that?
Read more:
http://communityfoodbank.com/pro...farmers-market/
Oh, and our food bank just launched a new community garden, too. YAY!
Okay...so I've picked up reading AVM again...the semi-rant worked...I got my concerns out of my system and am enjoying the book much more than my first blush, scurry-hurry read.
Glad to hear that. Kingsolver is one of my all-time favorite writers. I love her fiction. Have you read any of it? It's really good. Just plain old good, skillful, insightful, poignant storytelling.
Am very much a non-fiction gal, so I thought this would be my ticket to reading her oeuvre. She is a gorgeous writer!!
I have to say, I agree with you about Kingsolver's AVM book. I love the writing, and it certainly makes me want to grow veggies and make my own cheese. However, as you say, many of us don't live where the water burbles up from the ground. So does that mean we all pull up stakes and move to where it does? I'm guessing Kingsolver and others might find the sudden influx of people a bit disconcerting.
But even mo0re than the impracticality of that solution, I was born in the southwest. I grew up here. This is my home. Kingsolver was, in some sense and by her own admission, returning to her home. Do I have to leave mine?
I'd rather try and find a sustainable solution for living here...
I'm glad you wrote this post. I was finding myself so frustrated with the book that I was having a hard time finishing it. It's nice to know I wasn't alone in thinking this. However, like you, I think there is much that the book offers, too, and hope I can get past my frustration to finish it.
I found your review of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle a tad mean-spirited. Agreed, the high-minded tone of the book irked me as well, but I know a number of people who have been enlightened to the realities of commercial food production by reading it. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is a popular success and, happily, it will reach more people than any blog on the subject. For that fact and its good intentions, the book deserves kudos. Period!
Lemme see...I qualified my assertions by saying that I didn't think she meant to callous...and I ended up not only recommending her book (and providing a link so folks could buy it)...but coming back later in my comments to saying once I'd identified and vented my frustration, the book seemed more worthwhile.
I find that neither nasty nor base, as you suggest. It was intended to be honest, thoughtful and forthright... and fairly respectful given that I said I didn't think she meant to slight people.
You are certainly free to disagree. I personally think that when we fail to think critically about best sellers and just give them praise on the basis of their sales volume, we slight the author. But that's just me.
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