November 29, 2016

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle : A Year of Food LifeAnimal, Vegetable, Miracle : A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is a combination narrative of a year in a locavore family's food life, and a rich collection of facts about our food and where it can and does come from. I am anxious to put many of the ideas and principles into action in our family food life. I especially enjoyed the facts and quotes included, some of which i jotted down:

"If every US citizen ate just one meal a week composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country's oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week."

"Humans have eaten some 80,000 plant species in our history. After recent precipitous changes, three quarters of all human food now comes from just eight species with the field quickly narrowing down to genetically modified corn soy and canola."

"the Colorado River - owing to our thirsts - is a river that no longer reaches the ocean, but peters out in a sand flat near the Mexican border."

and i now have another reason to seek out and read some Wendell Berry:

"I dislike the thought that some animal has been made miserable in order to feed me. If I am going to eat meat, I want it to be from an animal that has lived a pleasant, uncrowded life outdoors, on bountiful pasture, with good water nearby and trees for shade. And I am getting almost as fussy about food plants."
- Wendell Berry, 'What Are People For?'


View all my reviews

November 19, 2016

Vinyl Dinosaurs

Artauro Productions - I loved seeing your film "Vinyl Dinosaurs" today at Carrboro festival. Being of the generation who started out with vinyl, i loved the story of a young person discovering music the way i did. Additionally, your film conjured up all the sensations of playing an album (i have not done so since the late 80's). I could feel myself holding the record in my hands, positioning the tone arm, and watching it gently fall into the groove, hearing the distinct sound as it did. In college, i can remember cueing up my favorite album, putting on my Koss headphones, turning off all the lights in the room, and losing myself in the music. These little details that i had forgotten all came back to me today with your film. Nicely done, thank you! Wonderful memories. Thank you!