It's true! Locavore--defined as "one who eats foods grown locally"--is official. The word is one of about 100 that Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary has added to its latest edition. (Read about it and the other words here.)
Personally, though, I'd have preferred they added "localvore" with an "L." Locavore sounds a little too much like loco to me ...
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Books Archives
Take it off! 'Sleeping Naked is Green'!
"Bridget Jones's Diary" meets Al Gore. That's the impression I get from the book "Sleeping Naked is Green."
Sign me up!
Sign me up!
"Animal, Vegetable, Miracle"
Tuesday, January 6, 2009 -- 10 p.m.
I'm currently obsessed with the book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life," by Barbara Kingsolver (with contributions from Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver, her husband and daughter). And by obsessed, I mean that I'm only 60 pages into it, and I'm already quoting it and planning my first-ever garden for the spring/summer ... from seeds.
We'll see how that works out, considering that I can't even keep a basil plant alive for more than a few months.
If you haven't heard of it before, the book is about a family that decides to document a year of getting as much of their food as possible from neighboring farms and their own garden. And, unlike my own Localvore Challenge, there's a thought process behind EVERYTHING they're consuming, including the non-local items.
But the best part about the book is the fact that it isn't just chronicling their project. The author--and her family--also offer facts, history and even recipes, things that you'd never even think to wonder about.
Example: "Contrary to lore, fat [asparagus] spears are no more tender or mature than thin ones; each shoot begins life with its own particular girth. In the hours after emergence it lengthens, but does not appreciably fatten" (p. 26).
Random? Yes. But never before have 10 or more pages about asparagus been so fascinating. It sounds crazy, I know, but it makes sense in context--I swear.
So, if you're looking for some winter reading, pick up this book. I'm sure you'll see more posts about it, as I've gleaned lots of topics I'm itching to talk about.
The only downside to the book: It's making me hungry for spring!
