The Sweet Beauty of Trust

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver

Chapter 8: "Growing Trust"

                In Chapter Eight, “Growing Trust”, from Barbara Kingsolver’s novel, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (2007) Kingsolver claims that although organic food may seem a bit too pricey for Americans rather than the cheap, processed food found in markets everywhere, in actuality, shelling out a couple more dollars is worth it as not only is it healthier for the consumer but the money goes to the hardworking farmers rather than big-name corporations. Kingsolver initially starts out the chapter by discussing family preparations on the farm, including last minute fruit gatherings and soil composting, before taking a week off to go and travel to a friend’s house. She then follows her story by addressing the hard work that goes into farming and thus the reasoning as to why genuine organic food is more costly than the “cheap foods” society tends to purchase and consume more of. She concludes by then focusing back to her trip and using her experience to contrast the major differences between local farmers and corporate farmers, generalizing local farmers as more trustworthy, committed, and “incorruptible.” Kingsolver differentiates between processed, corporate food and organically grown local foods in order to persuade the readers in understanding the benefits of purchasing the latter, despite higher costs. Her audience are adults, local famers, corporate farmers, and organic food consumers as to knowing what truly is “organic” and why it is a better and healthier alternative.

Vocabulary:

•   Gourmand- someone who enjoys good or gourmet eating, often excessively
•   Celibacy- abstention from marriage or sexual relations
•   Tallow- the fatty tissue from animals
•    Languidly- characterized by lacking in spirit or vigor, showing weakness

 Tone: Enthusiasm, Concern, Awe

Rhetorical Strategies

•   Simile- “A thriving field of vegetables is as needy as a child…” (pg. 111)
•  Metaphor- “But you can briefly tiptoe away from the sleeping baby.” (pg.111)
•  Rhetorical Question- “How delusional are we, exactly?” (pg.116)
•  Statistical Facts- “One out of every three dollars we spend on healthcare…is paying for the damage of bad eating habits” (pg. 116); “The incidence of obesity-related diabetes has more than doubled     since 1990” (pg.116)
•  Idiom- “…it started raining cherries.” (pg. 112)

·        Discussion Questions

• What did Kingsolver mean when she said, “one of the houses is exclusively a cold frame” (pg. 119)? What is a “cold frame”?
•  How does Kingsolver structure her chapters to set up her claim?
• Why does society continue to choose “cheap, processed food” rather than organic food, knowing full well the effects of consuming these corporate products? Why are many people in our society unwilling to shell out a few more dollars for healthier and better alternatives?

 “It’s interesting that penny-pinching is an accepted defense for toxic-food habits, when frugality so rarely rules other consumer domains.” 

      

A Place "Called Home"

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver 

Chapter 1: "Called Home"

             

        In Chapter one, “Called Home” of Barbara Kingsolver’s novel, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (2007) Kingsolver claims that our nation’s dependence on industrial manufacturing and food consumption are leading to the gradual ignorance of agriculture and farming, obesity, and consumption of fossil fuels. Kingsolver initially starts out her chapter by providing a brief anecdote on the family’s move to the Appalachians. She then integrates detailed facts and examples (including statistics and articles) to explain the U.S. food culture, leading up to the family’s reasoning as to why they decided to rely on seasonal farming and food consumption rather than common industrial manufactured foods, and concludes by using an allusion to compare their dietary plans to “the Zorba diet.” Kingsolver’s purpose is to expose the nation’s food industry in order to persuade readers to realize where their everyday food originates from, while also getting them to understand and appreciate her alternative to industrial food consumption and farming. Her audience is mainly towards adults, as well as chefs, farmers, locavores, and starting organic eaters unaware of the basics of organic eating and farming.

Vocabulary:

•          Frugal- the characterization of one who is not wasteful ; is economically in use or          expenditure
•          Trivial- something that is ordinary and insignificant
•          Petulant- the characterization of one who is impatient and quick to be irritated
•          Chrysanthemums- the genus name of a certain variety of plants
•          Surreptitiously- something obtained or created secretively without authorization
•          Fornicate- voluntary intercourse between two unmarried individuals
•          Notorious- one who is unfavorably known for a particular trait
•          Synergies- a cooperative and combined function/action
•          Epicurean- one who is fond of luxury and sensual pleasures
•          Ubiquitously- something that exists everywhere
•          Halcyon- something or someone calm, peaceful, rich, and happy

Tone: Concerned, Disappointed, Enthusiastic

Rhetorical Strategies:

•  Anecdote: “Too tired to cook, we headed into town for supper...Our waitress was young and chatty... ‘Let’s hope it’s a good long one,’ she said…” (pg. 7-8); “As we gathered our loot onto the counter the sky darkened suddenly…This bleached-blond guardian of gas pumps and snack food was not amused…” (pg.7)
•  Articles: Oily Food- “Americans put almost as much fossil fuel into our refrigerators… (pg. 5); Hungry World- “All these heirloom eggplants and artisan cheeses…(pg.18-19)
•  Allusion: “to make a Leaves of Grass kind of culture…” (pg.4); “We were writing our Dear John letter to a roomie…” (pg. 22); “This was approximately the basis of our plan: the Zorba diet.” (pg. 22)
•  Statistical Facts: “U.S. consumption of ‘added fats’ has increased by one-third since 1975, and our HFCS [High-Fructose Corn Syrup] is up by 1000 percent.” (pg. 14-15); “This is how 70 percent of all our Midwestern agricultural land shifted gradually into single-crop corn or soybean farms…” (pg. 14)
•  Humor: “We were thinking Parmesan meant, not ‘coming from Parma,’ but ‘coming from a green shaker can.’ Did they kick us out for bad taste?” (pg. 4)

Discussion Questions:

• What type of culture does Kingsolver refer to when she makes the allusion to Walt Whitman's novel, Leaves of Grass? (pg. 4)
• What purpose does the use of brief articles throughout the novel serve towards Kingsolver’s overall message?
• How might our nation turn out if everyone were to switch to seasonal sustenance or local farming and food consumption? Would it be possible for our nation to thrive without a heavy dependence on industrial food manufacturing?

 “A food culture is not something that gets sold to people. It arises out of a place, a soil, a climate, a history, a temperament, a collection sense of belonging.”