I initially saw this book peaking out of the shelves of a Jamba Juice. I found the title intriguing and eventually got around to purchasing it. I thoroughly enjoyed this playful story of food and would recommend it to anyone. I really like that Pollan doesn't push an agenda on you. The greater portion of the book is just educating you with very intesting and yes, at times disturbing, facts. It motivates you to think more about where your food comes from and what exactly you are eating. But don't worry, it isn't a preachy book that wants you to be a vegetarian! I think most of us love the idea of a micro family garden/farm and this book definitely gives lots of useful tips on what makes a good one. Pollan's musings about his hunting experiences became fairly cheesy but that is the only part that bordered on boring. Read this, you'll like it!
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Lately I've been interested in knowing where my food is coming from and how it is grown. I'm not an organic freak but I like the idea of yummier fresher food that is grown locally (or more local than Mexico anyway). One way of doing this is having a garden which you all know. There are systems out there like "square foot gardening" that produce a high yield in a small space. I also like the idea of "permaculture" and setting up a system where your animals (rabbits, chickens, ducks) work in concert with your garden and orchard by way of pest control (chickens and ducks) and fertilizer (chickens, ducks and rabbits). But now you see my problem. Don’t you? It's not a land thing. There are ways to do this on minimal acreage. It's a red meat problem. All of the above animals don’t fulfill man's need for delicious beef. I like red meat and like even more knowing that it is the growth hormone chemical free kind (once again, I don't know if beef raised "organically" is any better for you but if you can avoid the possible risk...). Well I found the solution a little while ago and here is a link to introduce the answer. Also are provided some good links to "permaculture" info.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dexter_cow#Growing_popularity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture
http://www.permaculture.org/nm/index.php/site/index/
This is the first year we have planted a garden. We're really excited about it. I'd love to have some chickens and rabbits helping, but that'll have to wait till our next house. The "before" picture is at the link above...now the garden looks like a jungle. We must have done gardening by the square inch. I'll have to arrange things diferent next year so the taller plants don't shade the shorter ones. And we plan on expanding.
Mom was telling me about that book, next time I'm at Jamba Juice I'll have to pick up a copy
I wrote michael about it but this dexter cow he speaks of is supposed to taste great and produce great milk too. Organic beef is a bit better because they can't use hormones, feed them beef fat, or give them antibiotics, but as the book tells you you'll need to look more into the companies that are trying to sell organic because they still may keep their cows on feed lots etc. making them not all that much better for you. Anyway, read the book! Whitney, you can get it at Barnes and Noble too, and borders!
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