Animal, Vegetable, Miracle Journal 2

The second third of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle focuses greatly on the personal benefits of eating locally. Heirloom foods (like tomatoes) simply taste better. Cooking at home, rather than eating out, provides valuable time for families to spend together. Additionally, gardening, as Kissinger believes, is a hobby in itself, not just a lifestyle. It gives her time to relax, time that others would spend watching television. And, taking food from seed to the table is satisfying – knowing that they creating their own food provided Kissinger’s family a sense of achievement.

I initially saw this local food thing as simply a trend. The farmer’s markets that are popping up weekly seem to be people’s way of acting like they care for the environment. And when I first started reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, I thought Kissinger was simply following the trend.  To me, the “trend” of local food is horrible. If you don’t plan on devoting your all to the cause, then you aren’t effectively fighting for the cause. If you buy local vegetables, but buy packaged cookies, then you aren’t fighting for the cause. The eggs used in those cookies were probably from caged chickens, the flour was probably bleached, and the sugar was probably shipped from Brazil. When Kissinger showed signs of hesitation toward first starting the experiment (it took her family a few months once they had moved to quit shopping at the grocery store), I thought she was simply following the trend. But as I’ve read further and further, it’s become clear that Kissinger actually cares for the environment, and actually enjoys what eating locally does for her – she’s definitely not doing it to follow the trend.

I still stand by my belief that I could never go with the local food trend. It definitely is starting to make more and more sense to me – the entire book is like a giant argument essay to convince me to eat locally. But, as I said previously, I think you either have to go all the way or don’t go at all. If I started eating locally, I’d feel guilty eating store-bought foods. Also, I think one of the most satisfying things about the local food trend is growing foods yourself. I have no desire to garden, so I don’t think eating locally would be as satisfying for me as it is for Kissinger.