By Dawn McNutt
Special to THE DAILY

Barbara Kingsolver is the well-known author of “The Bean Trees” and “The Poisonwood Bible” and has a slew of other best-selling novels to her credit.

She is also a devoted mother and wife and all-around concerned citizen of plant Earth. She has grown increasingly concerned about where exactly our food is coming from and its effect on our well-being.

With this in mind, she leaves her modern, suburban neighborhood in Tucson, Ariz., and packs up the family to live in rural Southwest Virginia in the heart of Appalachia on a 100-year-old farm that desperately needs some TLC.

She and her family make a pledge to spend the next year eating only what they can grow in their garden, raise on their farm, or get from their neighbors who are all local farmers.

Avoiding the ‘food pipeline’

They vow to live without anything that comes from the “industrial food pipeline” as Kingsolver puts it, and consume only what nature has provided them with in and around their new homestead.

During the year the family documents everything in various journals as well as any interesting articles they have come across in their research on food consumption and production in America.

What emerges is a wonderful book that’s part memoir, part recipe and meal preparation, part gardening and animal care, and part consumer guidebook all rolled into one.

What to expect

Each month throughout the year is given at least one chapter to explain what will occur during that time, such as the planting and harvesting, as well as the meals that will be prepared to coincide with each.

It’s fascinating to see how this family handles everything from breeding turkeys to making cheese as they struggle with the ups and downs of farm life and menus based strictly on what is available around them.

Think about how many times in a week you run to the supermarket for that forgotten item or the monthly trip to Sam’s or Costco to load up for your family. Then, imagine doing none of that because you have made a pledge to eat only what you have available in your own yard or the neighbors’.

Admirable? Very much so! Impossible? Not for Barbara Kingsolver, her husband and their two daughters. Their passion and intensity to commit themselves to this project for a year is an inspiring adventure for anyone who has dreamed of self-sustained living and rural homesteading.

In the last few years there have been a slew of books, from “Fast Food Nation” to “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” encouraging the average consumer to stay away from the perils of processed food.

Buying local produce

Books like “Diet For a Small Planet,” published over 20 years ago, began a trend in educating us all to buy local produce, support our farmers and learn exactly where our food is coming from before it makes its way into our stomachs.

The success of supermarkets like Whole Foods and Wild Oats are making it easier to buy organic foods in places where local farming isn’t available to the urban consumer.

The “slow food” movement is upon us, and Barbara’s charming story just reiterates that. She’s clearly hoping that by showing us what her family can accomplish, she will inspire others to do the same.

Of course the average family can’t just pack up and move to a farm in the middle of nowhere. We all have jobs and family responsibilities, and most of us don’t have millions in the bank from book royalties to sustain us during our trial and error period.

We can, however, take some ideas from her book and maybe try a few things like a backyard garden, or purchasing fair trade coffee. Instead of shopping at the local chain supermarket, we can hit the farmers’ market in downtown Decatur and support our local farmers.

We can join a CSA and get our fruits and vegetables delivered weekly fresh from the farm. Her point throughout the novel is to be educated consumers who know exactly what we are eating and how it was grown.

Barbara Kingsolver’s book is a must read for anyone who has thought about what it takes to pursue the “back to basics lifestyle.”

She includes all her failures as well as her many successes and clearly points out that farm life is no cakewalk. It takes an overwhelming amount of work and a fierce dedication to what you believe is important in life.

Warm tale of family

She writes with such a warm and embracing style that you can’t help but be drawn in to her family’s adventure as they struggle with moving from the “fast food suburbs” to an Appalachian wonderland that holds the key to their happiness and well being.

It’s interesting to read how each family member fared in his or her own way. The youngest daughter raises chickens, sells the eggs and helps out with all the gardening, as well. The older daughter spends much of her time creating recipes based on what’s available and extensively researches nutrition and also takes on “contributing author” duties in part of the book as well.

Steven, Barbara’s husband, not only spends countless hours researching and writing on food consumption, but also works in every area to successfully run a thriving farm.

Barbara spends the bulk of her time canning, freezing, gardening, raising livestock, harvesting, building and somehow, writing a bestseller that has already been in the top 10 of The New York Times, USA Today, and several other well-known booklists since its release in mid-May.

“We’re hoping our kids will remember us somewhere other than in the driver’s seat of the car,” she writes. No doubt they will. We’ll remember her for writing one of the best and most informative books of the year and for making us stop and think next time we’re holding that tomato in the produce aisle, “Can’t I just grow this myself?”

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