It is a fascinating, non-fiction, true story. I highly recommend it; it is proving to be very thought-provoking. Everyone seems to be on the kick of going green, living a less wasteful life. We are trying in small ways: recycling, combining errands, no more plastic grocery bags, etc. etc. Nothing too earth shattering, but baby steps, nonetheless. Some habits are hard to break, most notably my Suburban. Not sure I could give it up. I've been driving one (with the notable exceptions of a few years in the Dodge Colt, Mercedes 240diesel, and the Z28) since I was 15 and had my hardship license. How am I supposed to put 2 kids, 2 adults, 2 large dogs and luggage in a Prius for our trips to Corpus? Not to mention carpools, etc. So while I am not giving up the Suburbanator anytime soon, I AM looking for other ways to live a more thoughtful, earth-friendly life.
Which brings me back to the book. It is about the author's family's one-year journey of eating only food of which they know the source. They live on a farm in Appalachia, grow much of their own food, and buy everything else locally for an entire year. And by locally, I mean, Farmer's markets, the other farms in their neighborhood, etc. The most striking lesson so far about the book is learning the effect that globalization has had on our food habits. Most children (and adults like me) are ignorant to the natural food cycle. We go to the grocery store and can buy asparagus, strawberries, and oranges in December. Most of these foods have been flown/trucked in from places unknown. The oil necessary to get a raspberry onto my plate in my house is tremendously overwhelming when you break it down by how far it has traveled. So we are going to try to make our food choices more thoughtfully and buy more locally grown foods whenever possible.
But again, we are talking baby steps here. This afternoon, we are headed to the Farmer's Market to see what there is to see. But I am not ready to give up my raspberries quite yet.
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