Animal, Vegetable, Miracle Ch. 18-20

January may seem like a very scary time for those trying to eat fresh, local foods. As the temperature drops and the ground freezes, Farmers' Markets close and fresh options start to dwindle. However, Barbara Kingsolver makes clear that you really can eat any and every food fresh in the winter months... if you think ahead. Thanks to their foresight and hours of canning, bagging, and freezing in the summer, the Kingsolver family was able to enjoy vegetables, fruits, herbs, and meats throughout the winter. Many people tend to think of frozen food as unappealing and stale, but this assumption is false. As long as people are willing to preserve foods fresh in the summer, they can enjoy them any time in the future. While the Kingsolvers did miss their imported Alaskan salmon in the winter, they found a delicious source of the same omega-3 fatty , acids in pasture-fed beef, a painless solution to the lack of fresh fish. Surprisingly, cooking and baking were almost easier in the winter due to the accessibility of a myriad of fresh foods that the family had previously canned. In retrospect, Kingsolver was very satified with the hard work her family had accomplished during the summer because it made winter that much easier.

Kingsolver also reflected upon the time, energy, and money that her family had invested in their new lifestyle. After some number crunching, she found that her family had saved a sizeable sum of $7,500 and spent roughly two dollars per meal. Not only were they saving their health and the environment, but they were also saving a substantial amount of money. In addition to the savings, the family's farming habits also provided a relaxing escape from the everyday world of work, school, and stress. As the Kingsolvers looked to February, the "hungry month," their situation truly seemed promising.

As the days left in February began to disappear, so did the food in the Kingsolver's pantry; they would make it out of the cruel winter months on the food they had left. Much to her dismay, Kingsolver suspected that her "droopy" turkey hen had contracted roundworm. However, when the hen tried to mate with her husband, the suspicion was dropped, and the difficult research of turkey mating commenced. Eventually, the family brought turkeys into their own sort of honeymoon suite where they could happily mate as much as their little turkey hearts desired. I now know much more than I ever intended or wanted to know about turkey mating, and frankly, it is not a pleasant description. The turkeys did in fact successfully, and effectively, mate to produce incredible quantities of eggs, but none of the hens made much of an effort to care for the eggs, usually abandoning them in their nests or in the yard. Despite the setback, Kingsolver was determined to raise all-natural turkeys hatched and raised by their mothers; she resisted the temptation to purchase an incubator. Eventually, the turkeys embraced motherhood and, much to their owners' pride, hatched several chicks.

As Kingsolver brought the novel to a close, she reflected upon the journey she and her family had taken. The dramatic change in the families patterns of eating and living represent so much more than simply choosin healthier food; the switch is the very struggle between today's food industry and the food of the past: real, fresh, hearty food straight from the ground. The quest to eat naturally and responsibly comes from the desire to truly make a life change and commit to it without excessive complaint and frustration. By taking baby steps towards more responsible food choices, we can truly reform the malignant food industry. Barbara Kingsolver completely, radically changed her family's life in just a year; everyday we can put in a little extra effort to fight the good fight and choose responsible, local, fresh food. We owe it to ourselves, our environment, and our future.

I'm sorry, but turkeys are just not the most majestic creatures... especially now that I have a fairly extensive knowledge of their mating habits...