Food Books...

Erica, a dear reader living in TX has asked about food books. Sadly, I suck. For a librarian, I don't have too many first-hand references on this. Actually, I really only have one: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. That's the book that started it all. It's the book that has become my Bible of sorts. It changed my life. It convinced me of the ecological, biological and economical health of eating things grown on the land you walk on. Of how important it is to eat locally, seasonally and organically. How necessary it is that the animals you eat are allowed to live in a habitat as close to their natural one as possible... that the meat from those animals is better for you in myriad ways right down to the good stuff you get from eating it... that these animals are twice or more times as good for you than industrial meat farms because they are allowed to eat their natural feeds--cereals, grasses and BUGS instead of genetically-modified crop fodder. That because they are not suffering from the stress that comes from being smashed in with one another, overfed and not given any fresh air, free-range, organically raised animals not only live a better life, but they yield a healthier product (if you don't mind talking about animals in that way). It's not that they don't have stress. It's that they have the RIGHT kind of stress. The natural kind. The fight or flight kind. That kind of stress makes the animals the way they're supposed to be. Sure, they may not be as succulent as what you've been raised to think they're supposed to be, but that's simply a matter of reprogramming on your part. At least you can eat your meat knowing that it's the absolute best for your body (because, not to be cliche, but you really, truly, no, for real, ARE what you eat) AND that those animals had a happy and natural life (when I say happy, I don't mean hanging out in a hot tub or reclining on Egyptian cotton eating grapes... I mean they get to be FREE and as close to "natural" as possible). Heck, if it were up to me, we'd all have to HUNT the meat we eat. At least that way, we probably wouldn't eat it as often (because you REALLY don't need to eat as much meat as all the meat farmers told you you did).

That brings me to ANOTHER book. I haven't classified it in with my "food book" library of one simply because it's not a book for EVERYBODY (like AVM is) and that book is Skinny Bitch. It taught me why, how and when to go vegan. It worked and I loved the vegan lifestyle. Only problem with that is, I have kids. I found myself making separate meals for myself and I just don't have time, energy and motivation for all of that. Now, I DO eat pretty vegan most of the time. I still don't use butter. I use only a smidge of milk in my coffee (I would use other milks like soy, quinoa, etc. but because I'm the only one using them, they go bad and I end up wasting). I rarely eat meat or eggs. The main thing is, I just don't THINK about it anymore. When I was straight vegan, I had to go out of my way to prepare lots of things in advance. And let me tell you, baking was an adventure. *grin* Again, I LOVE the vegan way. And maybe when I'm older (nearing menopause so I can eat and drink as much soy as I wanna AND won't have any kids to cook for), I'll go back to it. But for now, it's just not practical. Instead, I go out of my way to make sure the meat, eggs and dairy I buy are organic, as local as possible and free-range/hormone-free.

HOWEVER, because I'm a big reader, I welcome ANY and all food book suggestions in my comments section. Please do! I'm hoping to talk Sam into getting me a Kindle, so if you got books I need to buy/upload, tell me now!!! Thanks in advance!