Has anyone read "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle"?

[ODS-n-ENS FARM]

LOVE THE BOOK!
One of our customers recomended it. We try to eat local and seasonal.Refuse to buy food from any other country. Last year we raised meat birds and pigs,plus eggs from our layers. I can and froze evrything I could from our gardens. We also try to buy as much as we can from non-franchised stores.This year we have expanded our gardens and we are also raising lambs(local lamb chops cost $14.99 lb )We will be increasing our meat bird order because people have asked us to do some for them.(local chicken is about $6 lb)Eat local is very big around here. My eggs are in a bio-fuel "congreenience" store.Seventy-five percent of the products within the Congreenience Store come from a 100-mile radius. My hens are having a tough time keeping up with the demand.I am not close to the 100% but trying .
"Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan is on my to read list.
An interesting documentory to watch is:

Future of Food (2004):
"Before compiling your next grocery list, you might want to watch this eye-opening documentary, which sheds light on a shadowy relationship between agriculture, big business and government. By examining the effects of biotechnology on the nation's smallest farmers, director Deborah Koons Garcia reveals the unappetizing truth about genetically modified foods: You could unknowingly be serving them for dinner."

 

[ODS-n-ENS FARM]

Quote:
http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/

 

[lalaland]

um, I'ld say that if you are eating corn in American (conventional corn that is, not organic), as in oh, say, corn chips, cornmeal, corn syrup, (corn syrup is in your pop, your breads, your frozen foods, your ketchup...on and on and on).....then you are for certain eating genetically modified foods. All hail Monsanto! Funny that other countries protect their citizens more than the US - which really protects the business versus the individual. Most people want for example, their food to be labeled genetically modified if it is, but big industry wins out and we don't get to know that.

Eating local is another way of protecting you and your family - you can learn alot about your food from the folks who produce it - lots harder to learn much about the industrial food producers.

stepping down from the soap box, now.

 

[PotterWatch]

If you enjoyed either of the books mentioned in this thread, keep and eye/ear out for a showing of the documentary Fresh. I was just able to go to a preview showing last night with a local group here that will be putting on a showing where we hope hundreds of people will attend. Michael Pollan is one of the people featured as a speaker in the movie and though it didn't hold a lot of new information for me, it was still inspiring and I hope to get a few people to see it who I think need to see what our current food culture is and what it will become if we don't take steps.

 

[warmfuzzies]

I have started it, and so far I was a little disapointed in the first chapter... It seems to be a little full of politics. But I am hooping to get to the story soon. And that it is better. I really just thought it was about their experience. Please dont yell at me...

 

[astylishgirl]

Ohhhh... I love this author. She wrote the Poisonwood Bible. I will check this out.

 

[Buster52]

Old thread, I know, but I just gotta say this is now my all time favorite book. I have read it something like four times now. It had a gigantic influence on me. One day we are driving and listening to it on CD as we returned from vacation, the next we were out shopping for a farm. It had just that kind of impact on us.

Highly recommend it.

 

[Sammimom]

I LOVED this book! We shop at a local co-op which is very strict about what it sells, which helps a lot in buying locally. My favorite chapter was about their trip to Italy!

 

[newchickenfamily]

Good book! I wanted to mention that I tried the recipe for the tomato sauce in AVM and it's over the top delicious!! I highly recommend!

Also, Buster52, Farm City was a GREAT book too!! I got to listen to Novella speak in Berkeley and got an autograph too! I loved her book!

 

[Buster52]

Quote:
Yes, I'm enjoying it a lot, as well. I'm involved in the voluntary simplicity movement and she is all about that. Loved her self designation as a "bottom feeder". Also makes me feel guilty I'm not doing more with the space I have. I expected it to be mostly funny based on how it started out, but it is poignant as well. Very good book indeed.