Comment #1799

2008-03-17T19:33:53Z

Just a comment on the frequency of meat eating. During college, my mom was concerned about me becoming a vegetarian and pushed me to ask our doctor about it.

He asked what things I ate, and I think basically he was checking to see if I said only macrobiotic or vegan or something along those lines. (I see that wikipedia's definition of macrobiotic more liberal than I had previously heard, so perhaps I am using the wrong term).

The quote I came away with was something like, "as an American [eating lots, like a good fat American], particularly if you eat eggs and dairy, there isn't any concern about getting enough protein".

I recently purchased a book called "Extending the Table", which has all sorts of different foods from around the world, and I am quite interested to try them out. I made an African ginger tea the other day, and I think we all liked it. The cookbook has more grains than I am used to eating, but we will see what things we like.

Comment #1798

2008-03-17T17:52:31Z

Thank you, Mary, for such a long thoughtful comment. It's good to hear something from the farmer's side. My great-grandparents were dairy farmers in the state of Washington, but I never knew them. I agree Kingsolver doesn't seem to have a clue about the real human beings behind the corporations she despises. She does reveal a soft spot for individuals whose situations she understands, even when they're contributing to an industry known to be harmful and with no redeeming value that I can see, by her sympathy for the small tobacco farmers who have no other way to make a living. I think she could apply this to farmers who "sell out" to factory farming methods.

I found it inspiring rather than depressing, perhaps because I still believe enough drops of water will eventually cool the hot stone. Not everyone can or will want to take the same steps that others find essential; that's why I so strongly believe in freedom of choice. To pick two areas close to my heart, I wouldn't push home birth or home education on anyone, but very much resent the efforts of others to make them difficult or impossible for those who believe them to be the best choices for their families. Anything that narrows our choices and pushes us all into sameness scares me.

I say hooray for the Swiss for supporting the 10-cow farmers! I'm a strong believer in the free market, but the Invisible Hand isn't all-knowing, and some things are worth supporting even if they make no economic sense. Japan has decided that preserving the way of life of the small farmer is one of those things; apparently Switzerland agrees. I worry about France, which as I understand it is under great pressure from the EU to stop subsidizing its small farmers.

Thanks again, Mary. Please feel free to comment more, on this or any post. :)

Comment #1797

2008-03-17T13:25:36Z

Dear Linda,

You too are a very good writer, and I have enjoyed both the contents and the style of your email. (I personally prefer this to the mails which seem to be someone's scribbled post -it notes tacke on the refrigerator. (If it is appropriate, you may use excerpts from this letter for your blog.)

As I already returned my copy of the book, I cannot make direct quotes, but I will give you my feed-back-both positve and negative. It is always refreshing to read of a family that cooperates together for the good of the whole, and that sees itself a s more than an island in a sea of neighbors with whom they have and wish no contact. There has got to be some happy medium between people in the world who seem ready to swallow whatever the current politically and socially correct notions are (swallow whole and without thinking) and those serious families (maybe we are one of them) that are sometimes so astounded and horrified at what is going on out there that we want to hide in our own little bubble.

As you mentioned, the book is not realistic, as the experiment was not only their sole source of income; a cynic could say they used the farming experiment to (have book material and) make money. Uggh. The tone came across to me as extremely preachy and condescending. But then I may be influenced by the one previous bokk I have read of Kingsolver's.

My relatives are dairy farmers in WI, and not only raised 6 children, but took in up to 6 juvenile delinquents from cities, giving them worthwhile work and a safer, definitely warmer environment. Two of these children, they adopted. This particular couple I have always loved and admired, but I see now that part of their motivation must have been that of a strapped financial position. They never complained, but I do remember the astronomical costs of farm equipment, which they would never own, but would simply pay off, and I remember their barn being burned to the ground by one of the boys who was also a pyromaniac. I remember the time Uncle fell off the roof and broke several bones, preventing most of his work for awhile. And I recall the startling news of the eldest son, who decided to study law (big expense) instead of taking over the farm. Now that they are older, they still work like dogs. Their children may do most of the farming, but they have a number of old people who are still mostly well, but who need someone to help them. As a child ,I remember the very first time they explained insemination of the animals to us, and it was thought a great help. (Actually, the most fascinating part for me was the tanks of COLD liquid nitrogen.) Anyways, I see Kingsolver's appreciation for the family farmer as incomplete. Though one may be able to raise enough for one's own small family on a farm, one cannot send one's child to college on 1400 dollars per acre. One cannot eat the profits and sell them at the same time. It is like pouring salt in a wound to say the farmers shouln'd sell out and do things to increase their profits. The whole system must be re-thought, and what politicians are spending time and effort on these life issues when they can attract more TV time by talking about homosexual rights or what everyone else has "done wrong".

In Switzerland, there are still farmers with less than ten cows, and a field that would better be used as a ski slope. To keep these hard-workers from starving, the price of dairy and meat are artificially made quite high. Of course there are flatland farmers who make a mint on this , but I think it is not a bad idea. Even for the consumer, one thinks twice before indulging in meat, butter and cream. They are luxuries. I am not a politician, and I don't know what the best solution is for America, but I do know, from books like More With Less, that Europeans consume considerably less than Americans. I have learned to make and enjoy meat, potato and veg meals without the meat. Whereas we learned to eat meat twice a day in the States, the pediatrician here told me twice a week was sufficient. The recipes in Kingsolvers book are good. People need to "taste and see" for themselves that there really is nothing like a home-grown tomato, and that shopping from the local farmer when possible is a taste of heaven (great produce without the thistles and sweat). Yet, onemust remember that there are no local farmers in the desert, and not everyone has the good fortune of having a piece of farming land in the family.

For some melancholics, reading such a book as Kingsolvers makes all possible change seem impossible and all effort like a drop of water on the proverbial hot stone. On the more positve side, it has made me feel glad that I am able to live in such a way that I have the time and possibility to shop at an open farmers market three times a week all year round. The grocery store is a five-minute bike ride away, so I don't have to depend on frozen, packaged things. But I also realize this is a kind of luxury; many in the States only shop once every two weeks. My mom was at home, and taught us directly and indirectly the benefits of home-made bread and fresh, simple food. But how many children even know what the possibilities are for a zucchini, besides being dumped in a chocolate cake.

There is so much pressure today to make money and get things, and so this is not just about food. Ironically, one of the ways that Kingsolver learned to appreciate natural products was as a result of her trip to Italy. Not everyone has that luxury. And friends of ours who lived for a time in an Italian city, made it abundantly clear that there are just as many stressed-out city dwellers in the land of mama's good cooking that cut open a cardboard box of pre-prepared tomato sauce to put on their pasta. This is still a vast improvement over potato chips and canned hotdogs with jello, but it is a myth to imagine that you can live a fast-paced two-career life in the city and eat in the way she describes in the book.

One of the things that made me sadest (and angriest) was the lost opportunity of learning from her own child. The young girl asked a very natural question while they were working in the garden--Where do we come from? Kingsolver went into her evolution story, and the girl then asked her second question--So did you come from a monkey or were you born? Kingsolver interprets this deep questioning as a failure on her part to explain evolution adequately. Pity that she did not see deeper to her own need. Children have real questions, and they only learn to be content with false or partial answers. Which brings us back to the problem of people who simply live on the surface and for themselves. Hopefully Christians will learn to be a good example in not only their religious beliefs, but in their daily decisions and activities.

With kind regards,

Mary

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