thejamesallan

Although I have been a long-time supporter of organic and fair trade goods, I have been a slow and grudging convert to the locavore movement. My first introduction to the idea--through Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle--seemed very distant from my life as a working mom, with a toddler, in a tiny apartment in a dense urban area. The closest my husband and I have come to a garden was a (probably) heavy metal contaminated triangle of land that the landlord allowed us to "farm" at my last apartment. I was able to harvest a bountiful crop of okra, some peppers, and the few tomatoes that were not stolen by passers-by...but it was hardly enough to revolutionalize my views of agriculture or to support a family of three. And then I read Plenty! Finally, a locavore story of urban folks--like me!--in a small apartment in a major metropolitan area. Okay, it's Vancouver, Canada, but, still, it's not a family farm in Appalachia. They are not independently wealthy, they do not have 100 acres, they bicker, they fail, and they make local eating seem like a fascinating possibility. Although the course of local eating does not run smooth, this is a couple that you would love to have coffee--or a locally produced alternative--with. What is just as fascinating as their transformation over the course of 365 days of local eating is their discovery of the human side of the food system. As they struggle to find staples produced within 100 miles, they discover a whole community in their large city--a fishmonger, a guy to get them flour, another guy at the university with an amazing garden of heirloom varieties of vegetables. What once seemed so alienating--the brightly lit industrial supermarket--is now as intimate as a traditional village. Each food item is linked with a person and a story of how it came to their plate. Also, what once seemed like abundance--all of the groceries in that same industrial food store--now seems like scarcity as they discover all of the foods, from odd varieties of honey to native plants to vegetable varieties--that will never make it to the shelves. I am not quite sure that I am ready for a 100-mile summer in Chicago, but I am a lot closer to considering it after this book.

2023-05-31 09:10