Animal Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life Chh. 8-10

When Emma lent me her copy of Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. It immediately crossed my mind to just skim the words, skip a few pages, and post a blog--it's Saturday night and I have a couch, an episode of Friends, and sleep calling my name. What a party. However, when I started reading page 111 of chapter 8, I couldn't stop reading.
On average, U.S. citizens spend a lower proportion of their income on food. This is less than any other country or even in history. So many times we sacrifice our need to have healthy food in order to purchase superfluous luxuries like high-speed internet, new cars, Gucci bags, etc. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that we forsake these things and start living on the bare essentials of life, but Kingsolver develops her argument in chapter 8 when she compares the "elite privilege" of eating organic vs. the actual price of conventional foods. Although many complain about the price of organic crops, many don't realize the actual price for their "cheap" industrially grown food. Our tax dollars fund the petroleum used in growing, processing, and shipping these crops. Americans also fund (with our tax dollars) large-scale, chemical-dependent farms. In addition, we pay for the environmental and health costs of that method of production. Instead of this, we could just be paying for the actual organic product itself...a product that would be locally grown. Now, you tell me if organic is more expensive.
After finishing chapter 9 of Barbara Kingsolver's book, I view cooking in a completely different in light. I refuse take part in majority of people who don't even know how to cook! Cooking isn't just about the eating (even if that's my favorite part). It can actually lead to new discoveries (exotic fruits/vegetables) that we would never think of trying. However, when talking about making her own softcheese, Kingsolver described it as a fairly simple process. She even included a recipe that only takes 30 minutes....I'm determined to make my own mozzarella cheese by the end of the semester. My Italian grandmother will be so proud.
One of the most striking facts that Kingsolver shared in chapter 10, was the statistic that buying goods from local businesses rather than national chains actually stimulates our economy 3 times. So rather than stay in this recession, let's eat locally! A simple solution.
Now, I'm going to go enjoy the gorgeous 81 degree weather and have some dinner outside. An extremely simple recipe Kingsolver included was the Summertime Salad. You'll need

2 large tomatoes
1 ball of mozzarella
Basil leaves
Olive oil
Salt to taste

Slice tomatoes and spread them out on your plate. Place a thing slice of cheese and a basil leaf on each slice of tomato. Drizzle olive oil over top, sprinkle with salt, and serve.

I'm pretty sure that took me less than 5 minutes to do. Now, you try!