Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

Kingsolver points out that eating what we want, when we want comes 'at a price.' The cost, she says, 'is not measured in money, but in untallied debts that will be paid by our children in the currency of extinctions, economic unravelings, and global climate change.' What responsibility do we bear for keeping the environment safe for future generations? How does eating locally factor in to this?ĩ. Kingsolver advocates the pleasures of seasonal eating, but she acknowledges that many people would view this as deprivation 'because we've grown accustomed to the botanically outrageous condition of having everything always.' Do you believe that American society can-or will- overcome the need for instant gratification in order to be able to eat seasonally? How does Kingsolver present this aspect in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle? Did you get the sense that she and her family ever felt deprived in their eating options?Ĩ.

'A majority of North Americans do understand, at some level, that our food choices are politically charged,' says Kingsolver, 'affecting arenas from rural culture to international oil cartels and global climate change.' How do politics affect America's food production and consumption? What global ramifications are there for the food choices we make?ħ. How does each member of the Kingsolver-Hopp family contribute during their year-long eating adventure? Were you surprised that the author's children not only participated in the endeavor but that they did so with such enthusiasm? Why or why not?Ħ. Did you find that these additional elements enhanced the book? How so? What facts or statistics in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle surprised you the most?ĥ. Hopp, contributing factual sidebars and her daughter, Camille Kingsolver, serving up commentary and recipes. The writing of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle was a family affair, with Kingsolver's husband, Steven L.

Why impose restrictions on ourselves? Who cares?' asks Kingsolver in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle? Did you, in fact, care about Kingsolver's story and find it to be compelling? Why or why not? What was the family's aim for their year-long initiative, and did they accomplish that goal?Ĥ. It felt almost silly to us in fact, as it may now seem to you. 'It had felt arbitrary when we sat around the table with our shopping list, making our rules. In what ways, if any, have you changed your eating habits since reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle? Depending on where you live-in an urban, suburban, or rural environment-what other steps would you like to take to modify your lifestyle with regard to eating local?ģ.

What was your perception of America's food industry prior to reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle? What did you learn from this book? How has it altered your views on the way food is acquired and consumed?Ģ.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver