Animal, Vegetable, Miracle Barbara Kingsolver Leah Rosenzweig

Background Info Barbara Kingsolver, the author of many novels such as The Poisonwood Bible and The Bean Trees, moves her family to rural southern Appalachia. She and her family for one year only ate food that they grew themselves, or food which was grown in their neighborhood. Her family includes her husband Steven L. Hopp, her eldest daughter Camille and her youngest daughter Lily.

The Problem Americans consume roughly 400 gallons of oil a year per citizen for agriculture (17% of our energy use). Solution? If every American were to eat an organic meal once a week, the U.S. oil consumption would be reduced by 1.1 million barrels per week. There are 800 million people who are underfed; yet, there are enough farms to produce enough food for the entire world population.

The Sole Purpose of a Utopia is the Earthly Welfare of its Inhabitants… The Industrial Revolution has caused the decline of agriculture and the shift to factories. U.S. farmers produce twice the amount of calories needed per person every day (3,900 calories). The food industry finds ways to “disguise” these extra calories in the form of manufactured corn, and then get them into the mouths of people who don’t really need to eat these extra calories.

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) Advocates: It’s a cheap and easy way to produce quality meat. Opponents: 1) The mistreatment of animals 2) Pollution 3) Health

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) or Mad Cow Disease After Mad Cow disease came about from serving cows feed containing beef products, the U.K. stopped this process and worked to eradicate Mad Cow. But the U.S. responded differently. The U.S. made it so that while it is illegal to serve cows to other cows, it is “ok” to serve other animals (mostly chickens) cow, and then serve the other animals back to the cows. The USDA has declared it illegal to test for Mad Cow after one company attempted to do so.

Supply and Demand and the Exploitation of Farmers The majority of farmers have to grow what the market demands. Tomato farmers “took a risk” and “took a loss”.

The Cost of “Inexpensive” Conventional Foods Agricultural fuel$22 billion Farm Bill$3 billion Treatment of food related illness $10 billion Clean up costs$17 billion Pesticides$8 billion Nutrients loss to erosion $20 billion

Utopian Beliefs and Concerns Family Structure The good of the individual balanced with the good of the community People are self motivated and do not become bored

“You are what you eat.”