Animal Vegetable Miracle...

I've been reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal Vegetable Miracle: a Year of Food Life.  It's eyeopening to say the least.  Kingsolver (Poisionwood Bible - NYTimes bestseller and short listed for a Pultizer) and her family vow to buy only food raised in their own neighborhood, grow it themselves or do without it.  They plant, tend, weed, harvest, can, freeze, dry the food they raise on their Virginia farm. 

Then they celebrate the first asparagus and spend August weekends harvesting tomatoes - counting them first by numbers and then by pounds.  The youngest daughter raises chickens and the oldest daughter includes recipes and comments at the end of each chapter.  Presenting an alternative to processed food might sound like a lot of work but the price of a loaf a 7 grain bread (4.49 for 10 slices) and the memory of how good food tasted when it's home grown and simply prepared inspired me to make a few changed in our shopping list and on our porch. 

We were surprised to see that there was a dairy with fresh eggs and raw milk right around the corner from us.

You go inside the building and there is a sliding door fridge with half-gallons and gallons of fresh milk from one of these... Moooo!  Her friends were out in a green pasture and looked pretty happy about it.

There are also the most beautiful eggs.  The are a rainbow of subtle colors - a delight for the eyes and amazingly flavorful. 

Next to the fridge is a card table with some maple syrup, a map that shows all the local farm stands and a rock with dollar bills under it and a sign to tell you how much things cost. 

That's it.  No cashier, no candy by the register and no lines.  Just food, not fifty feet from where is grows. 

Amazing!

Comments

[Felicia]

Hey Cat - I'm reading the Kingsolver book also and it's incredibly inspiring! I've started frequenting the weekend farmer's markets in Huntington and Northport and going to Makinajian Farms for produce and organic milk, etc. Maybe a few chickens would be fun to add to the brood.....Thanks for sharing!

[eb]

yep - this is the way - and so easy here in VT in the summer and fall - we go down to the neighbors to help "thin" the various lettuces and the Farmer's Market is the best - and I'm with you on the egg colors - that pale pale blue, all the various quiet tans and shades of white - my Grandparents were farmers and I gathered eggs with my Gran - warm and fresh - and the cream on top of the milk - oh so good on the oatmeal - and... well VT maple syrup - I might be prejudiced here...

wonderful post Cat!

xox - eb.