kingsolver miracle

i just finished a book that has truly inspired me: barbara kingsolver's latest, animal, vegetable, miracle. i'm sure you've at least heard about this book, in which BK documents her family's year of eating locally and living (as much as possible) off of a few acres of land in rural Virginia. the book celebrates homemade food literally made from scratch, seasonal agriculture, and communing with the weather. i cannot recommend this book more fervently (the other day on the metro, a woman asked me whether i was enjoying the book and i desperately sang out "it's changed my life!") - it's that essential. it contains interesting botanical (the sex life of lettuce) and home-economical aspects (canning tomatoes and making homemade cheese), but it's a must read, in my opinion, because of the light it sheds on the staggering cost, both environmental and monetary, of eating, for example, fresh raspberries in the wintertime. the philosophy has seeped into my mind so much that i actually had a hard time eating raspberries at a friend's dinner party a couple weeks ago. it's a hard (well, impossible) philosophy to wholly embrace, but i think that just being aware of this stuff (so that it jumps into your head at the supermarket or at a restaurant) can make a big difference. and that's bk's point. and mine, i suppose, in writing this post. let me know what you think if you've read it or if you do read it!