Localvores chew on Kingsolver's new book

Author: Andrea Glaessner

What brings Vermonters together better than cheddar and apples? The answer is local. "Local food" was the theme which dominated Monday night's discussion at Ilsey Public Library of Barbara Kingsolver's latest book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle."

The book tells the story of the author and her family, who committed to living and sustaining off their own farm and local food in Virginia for one year. There were exceptions, of course, like dried fruit, turmeric and coffee, which were ordered from fair trade organizations working with growers in Africa, Asia and South America. But the message in the book is that eating local food, not organic, vegan or vegetarian, is the best way to be healthy and green in a world where rising oil prices are pressuring individuals and communities to become increasingly sustainable and self-reliant.

That message was the common thread that brought farmers, students, vegetarians, Kingsolver-followers and farmer's market "groupies" together to discuss the book and ideas about living locally in Vermont.

The discussion began with an introduction by Kristin Bolton - the organizer for Ilsey book discussions - of the discussion moderators, Michelle McCauley, associate professor of Psychology, and Jay Leshinsky, the adviser to the College's organic garden. After a few welcoming words, the leaders handed off the discussion to the members of the group, inviting everyone to introduce themselves and a particular piece of the book they felt was important.

It was clear from the introductions that the range of interest in local food was vast. Bay Hammond, a founding member of the Addison County Relocalization Network (ACoRN), read the book not only to "learn about the journeys of other families living locally" but also to discuss Addison County's own rising local food movement. In particular, Hammond announced that ACoRN had recently put up a Web site that gets local farms in touch with local customers electronically. According to Hammond, the Web site allows customers to order locally-grown food online which would then be delivered weekly to the lawn in front of American Flatbread.

Hammond's Web site announcement sparked excitement in the crowd especially from the so-called farmers' market "groupies."Carol Calhoun, a self-proclaimed farmers' market enthusiast who compared the farmers' market to a candy store, felt that the market was not just a place to find delicious and healthy food, but was also, perhaps more importantly, "a great social event."

Enthusiastic agreement resounded from the group as more members discussed this notion of the local food movement as a community builder. Another woman pointed to the phenomenon of bartering and sharing with neighbors. She discussed how canning has put her in touch with a whole group of individuals with similar interests and a wealth of information to tap into related to "putting food by."

Ideas were tossed about, like popping corn in a hot tin. One woman, Berry Bailey, a heritage turkey farmer, brought up the idea of mentoring. That, she explained, was how she herself came to produce her own organic garden.

Other members felt a sense of urgency to embrace local food now, as the food system faced impending doom. John Ball, highlighting the "green" aspect of local food, called the group to "see local food as a way we are going to have to move in the future." Less a choice and more a necessity, other members agreed with the idea that resource scarcity may eventually push us, ready or not, to depend on local food for sustenance and survival.

The conversation soon shifted to the humane treatment of animals and its relationship with local food. Arguments were made pertaining to the problem of government stipulations on slaughterhouses. According to Hammond, there are many restrictions and regulations involved in legally slaughtering and selling animals, some of which are simply benefiting the macro-agro business and hurting small local farmers.

"I saw the news about the California beef recall," said Hammond, "and I thought, and they're scared of us?"

McCauley nodded in agreement, adding, "I feel like I should have the right to decide if I want to buy meat from my own neighbor."

Jan Ball runs her own farm and is actively working on plans to develop a "model" sustainable, local farm run by women that can buy up other Vermont farms and set a model for other farms. In her spare time, she is raising chickens on her own farm. She shared her sentiments about the importance of "compassionate animal slaughtering."

"There's nothing like having a relationship with your chickens and then killing them compassionately," explained Ball. "In fact, I've watched my chickens become compassionate chickens. When you are compassionate to them, they become compassionate to each other."

The urgency felt by members of the group to live green and responsibly raised the issue of the educational system and its tendency to exclude teaching children about farming, gardening and healthy food from the curriculum. A few students from the College were in attendance, and one student described her plans to get farming and gardening programs into the schools, or at least offer the activity as an extra-curricular opportunity for young children.

"You shouldn't have to sacrifice education for eating good, healthy food," echoed one member of the group.

The group also discussed themselves as supporters of the local food movement, and recognized a few of the problems with eating locally, mainly regarding accessibility and costs. Hillary Gerardi '08 shared an anecdote about visiting a friend in New York City and feeling two forms of guilt when making a decision about what to eat for dinner.

"I felt guilty because I'm not buying local food for this one meal," Gerardi explained, "but also because I realized that there are huge communities of people out there who don't even have the opportunity to make the choice to eat locally and connect with farmers like we do here in Vermont."

The group discussed local food from the book to themselves to the communities that do it and the ones that cannot. Because, after all, bringing it all home and putting it out on the table is what the Localvores, an increasingly visible sub-culture in Vermont, are all about.