This book offered me much more than I expected.

Having read several books by this author in the past, though none of them non-fiction, I certainly anticipated good writing. However, I didn't realize that this book would also be written in part by Steven Hopp, her husband, and Camille Kingsolver, her daughter. They, too, write very well.

Reading this book was like being invited into the family. You were given a real sense of what each person was like and how they reacted to the circumstances of growing and eating what they grew for a year. My initial reaction was that I couldn't eat the way they did, but in reading the tale of their gastronomic adventure, I seriously revised my thoughts on the subject. The food sounded delicious and so different from my usual fare that it would have been an adventure for me, too. I couldn't ever, however, have participated in the killing of the chickens and turkeys. It's not that I don't know how it works or why it's necessary, I just can't handle the blood and guts part of it.

There were many things I loved about this book. Not only was I educated about modern farming and organic gardening, but I also got excellent cooking suggestions. I thoroughly enjoyed watching Lily working with her chickens and eggs in her quest for a horse. Lily was a joy to observe from afar. This book also made me yearn to visit Appalachia, a wish I've had for some time.

Having been enchanted by this book, I ordered another non-fiction book by Kingsolver from the libary, and expect to be equally well educated, if not as enchanted, by it. ( )

2009 ( )

A fabulous book that will bring you closer to the origins of your food. It was empowering to discover just how self-sufficient we can all be. Even just changing a few things that we buy or the way in which we choose our foods can have a big difference on our neighbors, our environment and most directly-our families. ( )

A highly informative and interesting book, even for those who consider themselves fairly well versed in environmental issues. And the fact that it's written by Kingsolver (I'm a huge fan of her fiction) makes it a delight to read -- I'm not otherwise an avid non-fiction reader. ( )

I'll admit that I'm a sucker for Kingsolver's writing, so take the whole review with that as your grain of salt. I loved this book and found it really timely, as I'd signed up for a share in my local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and was discovering the benefits of local, seasonal cooking. My only gripe with the book is that at times I found myself extraordinarily jealous of Kingsolver and her family -- lots of land, lots of time, lots of love. Overall, I was thrilled to have been invited to the Kingsolver family's garden and kitchen through this book. ( )

Kingsolver drives home the point that an overwhelming majority of people are uninformed about food origins. The values of understanding food growth, seasonality, and environmental impact are stressed throughout this book. Regardless, Kingsolver does not denounce the folks who grow up without the agri-know how. She, along with her husband and daughter, encourage the reader to research a variety of provided resources, purchase local and organic at every opportunity, and stop and think before devouring a banana in January.

This is my first Kingsolver book, and I am enchanted by her passion for food, family, and, well, photosynthesis. At the very least, you'll be inspired to cultivate a small plant, visit a farmers market, or pay closer attention to where that January banana called home (at least where I live in New England :) ). ( )

I'm halfway through this book and have been for a long time. It's not a quick read but so interesting, and a little overwhelming to hear all the facts about the food we eat. ( )

Written by Kingsolver, her husband and her college-aged daughter. An engrossing memoir about eating locally produced food for an entire year, however it descended into a kind of smug tone that got a little irritating after awhile. Also, Camille's contributions I could have done without and I tended to skip over the factual bits to get back to the memoir. ( )

Kingsolver and her husband and daughters take a year off to live off the land in North Carolina. This is a great primer for eating 'green' and healthily. ( )

This book was bit preachy, and I think I would have enjoyed the stories of her adventures in growing her own food and feeding her family without the diatribe's on global worming, energy policy, and food additives. That being said, it was an entertaining read, and I was able to finish it and get into it somewhat, which I often find difficult for fiction. ( )

This book gripped me! It is not only full of wonderful, warm family stories, it also is full of information about us and what we eat. Loved it! ( )

More preachy than I appreciated and occasionally unrealistic to a fault, Kingsolver's informative "journal" style tomé on animal and vegetable growth raises many good points. Yet it's more of a rant than the telling of a family's experiment with food, and I found Kingsolver's tone parental. Her husband's side notes with research were generally fascinating, written in gentle, history teacherly cadence. I appreciated the straightforward approach her husband took to his sections, balancing Kingsolver's opinion-driven stance on every topic. The daughter, Camille, shouldn't have been included in the writing as her fluffy, forced prose doesn't fit. I'd recommend you skip her meadering, off-topic sidebars.

Overall, this book was a better idea in theory than in execution. Kingsolver should stick to fiction. ( )

The most interesting thing about this book for me was how my opinion about it changed. I remember really looking forward to reading it , but being disappointed after the initial read. The beginning was a little dry and preachy my taste and I absolutely hated her husband's portions.

But, this book stayed with me, I found myself thinking more and more about it (and visiting my farmer's market more often as well).

Loved the daughter's interludes and the inclusion of the recipes. ( )

I really liked the book but somehow I have not been able to finish it. It inspired me to rethink how my family eats and it got me back into our garden.
I love this author but I guess I do love her fiction better. ( )

A very important book everyone should read. Inspired me to join a CSA and buy/eat locally as much as possible. I really appreciate that all of their great recipes are available for free online so that I could share this book! ( )

I really thought this book to be eye-opening. I've been wanting to start growing my own food, and this book gave me hope. This book talks about how eating locally, food that's grown within 150 miles from home, is so much better for the environment and the body.

The comical stories from Kingsolvers food diary, interspersed with articles by her husband and recipes from her daughter, make for a fun read. ( )

ABG, audio, nonfiction, food, farming, local, recipes, Appalachia ( )

I didn't think I was going to like this. I was wrong. ( )

really turned me around in understanding the importance of eating locally and seasonally ( )

Another gem from Kingsolver. A well-written non fiction book that educates and calls to action. Learn where your food comes from in a factual and interesting manner. ( )

Well written and thought provoking. ( )

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (AVM) is Barbara Kingsolver's non-fiction memoir which follows her family's decision to eat only locally produced food for an entire year. They commit to eating only the food they grow and raise themselves, or food produced from within the county they live. The novel is largely Kingsolver's story as she breaks the chapters into a month by month journey of food life. However, her husband and daughter supplement the book with recipes and essays which compliment Kingsolver's narrative. The novel is a comprehensive look at what goes into living a life of local food with in-depth observations on small-scale farming, cheese making, home gardens, raising animals for food, foraging, eating locally while traveling, and much much more.

I read AVM in February, the perfect time of the year to dive into this novel. As Kingsolver notes, February is "the hungry month" where there is little if any local food available. However, by the end of February and into March it's time to start planning for the next growing season by starting seedlings and ordering garden equipment. When I read AVM I knew I'd be gardening again, but it was the success and joys presented by Kingsolver which really inspired me to become better prepared for this year's growing season. She inspired me to consider the plants I chose for this year not just for their immediate rewards, but for those that will preserve well as a source of local food through the winter. The novel presents how it is possible to eat locally through the entire year, but makes it clear that it is important to prepare for the winter all through harvest-time. As a result, Tom and I will be investing in a food saver for freezing and canning equipment for preserving. Before reading this novel I did not feel fully committed to the local food diet, but Kingsolver has won me over. I highly recommend the novel for anyone interested in local eating, especially those trying to raise a family in this grossly industrial food society.

One of my favorite parts of the novel is when Kingsolver and her husband travel to Italy. Their travels across the Italian countryside were inspiring and show that eating responsibly and respectfully is absolutely possible when on vacation. I've never considered myself a huge fan of Italian food, but after reading this novel I feel inspired to travel there and learn what real Italian food culture is all about. Somehow I don't think we've quite got it down here in Illinois.

I was surprised to read Kingsolver's arguments against vegetarianism. Although I was not entirely convinced, I found her novel to include the most compelling argument against vegetarianism I have ever read. However, I must emphasize that her arguments against not eating meat do not translate to an argument for eating meat in the way the majority of meat eating happens in this country. Rather, it is an argument for respecting and understanding the process and animals which go into the production of meat for food. More importantly, she argues for bringing the production of meat into the hands of the people eating the food. Knowing where the animal was bred, raised, and how it was fed are just as important as respecting the life taken. The chapter provides a new perspective on meat eating and I would urge all vegetarians to read the book before passing judgment on my poor efforts at restating her beliefs. That being said, I could personally never pluck a chicken or slaughter a lamb and have no intention of changing my mind when it comes to the decision whether or not to eat a dead animal.

A,V,M is an inspiring story, beautifully written and wonderfully educational. Ideally, everyone would read this novel, but I recommend it most highly to all those interested in local eating, home gardening, and the slow food movement.

To learn more about the book and Kingsolver's family visit: http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com... ( )

How often do people today stop to think about the food they are eating? How many people even know when a particular type of food is in season? I certainly don't. I bought chives at the farmers' market the other day and probably caused the farmer some heartache when I remarked that I didn't know chives had flowers. They do. Did you know that?

Kingsolver, her husband and her daughter wrote the book and it is full of disturbing facts about how much fuel it takes to bring a banana to Chicago in the winter, and how many pesticides are in our grain, and how almost all the diverse and fabulous native plant varieties of the United States are going extinct (that's right- *extinct*) because large farming corporations control our seed supplies.

Kingsolver is pretty left-wing and she clearly has serious issues with the World Bank and other organizations, but her points are valid. It is more than a little frightening to be bludgeoned over the head with the statistic that most food in the United States travels about 1,500 miles to get to your plate. That means fruit in this country has more passport stamps than I ever will.

The book's writing is very dense- in general, I feel that memoirs are fast reads, but this is almost more a treatise and a plea than a memoir. It is jammed with recipes and short essays and lots of information on the mating rituals of turkeys. In my opinion, all three authors can be a bit sanctimonious and overzealous in their writing. Barbara Kingsolver spends about ten pages ogling over asparagus. Her husband seems to have visited every possible organic food website on the Internet and urges us to do so as well. And Camille... well, her parts of the story just seemed a bit stiff and forced to me.

But the family clearly has a passion for what they do. After reading this book, I have visions of myself with a victory garden-esque vegetable patch growing in my parents' backyard. There are decisions we make in life, and the passive ones are often just as important and impactful as the active ones. Just because you don't think much about what you're doing doesn't mean it's not making an impact in a profound way.

This is one of those books that makes you consider those decisions. It might not change your life, but I guarantee that it will make you pause next time you're in the grocery store. And, just maybe, to pass over purchasing bananas. ( )

I found this book to be very interesting and a book that I have frequently recommended since I originally read it in the fall of 2008. The book made me look at the area the food was grown (US vs. Chile, California vs. local, etc.) and influenced the food that I buy. The ups and downs of trying to live off the land for 1 year gave insight into how truly difficult a farmers life is, and always has been. While Kingsolver and her family already owned a 40 acre farm and were raised (in some way shape or form) by people who knew how to live off the land, the book put forth some interesting issues to think about. I highly recommend this book. ( )

I'm not going to lie - this was a dense read. Not that it is uninteresting or written poorly, it is just not a "page turner." Barbara Kingsolver (usually known as an author of novels) and her family set out on a mission to live off of only locally grown food for one full year. This includes for the most part food grown on their own farm in Virginia. Kingsolver has already proven herself to be a talented fiction writer, but she also shines in nonfiction, bringing to life topics that would not always be considered the most exciting for the general public (although granted there are times I think she could have scaled back on the detail just a little bit). She is also joined by her husband and her daughter in this venture. Her husband's sidebars include factual information such as the petroleum costs involved in shipping food across states or countries, and he often points to web resources of interest. Her daughter provides a teenaged commentary as well as nutritional analysis and recipes. The beginning of the narrative is a bit disjointed and repetitive but after that, the story pretty much follows the year chronologically, with all the highlights along the way. The audio version is read by the authors, which is a delightful bonus, and also includes an interview with Barbara Kingsolver discussing the book. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in gardening or farming, although it also raises interesting points for anyone who cares about the environment or wonders about the food they put into their bodies. ( )