I’m currently reading the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle from Barbara Kingsolver. It’s an immediately-inspiring story of a family vowing to live and eat off their local environment for a year. Kingsolver tells her story like the great author she is, but she throws in useful sections about how to grow a certain vegetable or what the industry is doing to damage our cultivation and healthy consumption.
One of her tips that helps me grasp the issue best is making your own salad dressing (which I do a lot of in the summer, thanks to this shaker). Think about how much work and fuel is required to bring all those little contents from around the world and into a $3 jar, when you could have just mixed it up quickly at home.
I’m already very eager for our own gardening this year! I want to make sure I track down the right seeds since six companies – Monsanto, Syngenta, DuPont, Mitsui, Aventis and Dow – now control 98 percent of the world’s seed sales. Oh, and the chemicals that go along with them.
A couple of great resources mentioned in the book:
- Barbara Kingsolver’s own Animal, Vegetable, Miracle website, where she shares tips, resources and recipes mentioned in the book
- Seed Savers Exchange: A non-profit organization of gardeners dedicated to saving and sharing heirloom seeds passed down for generations.
- Slow Food International: A global, grassroots movement that links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment.
- Local Harvest: Helps you find a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program near you, typically involving a membership fee and then access to weekly or monthly basket of produce.
Stay tuned for more as our garden grows!
by stacey
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