I finished reading "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver a few days ago. While this certainly means I read this at the expense of studying, I realized that I am behaving no differently than I did when I was in Junior High: I just love reading books not assigned by academia. My journey toward eating local food has been gradual. For much of my life I did eat local, I didn’t have any other option. After I moved to the U.S. I didn’t eat locally as much, only because the food industry can make it a bit tricky to do so. So while I noticed that stuff tasted different I had no idea why. Slowly I learned about the animal food industry. Then I learned about the prevalence of food additives, and corn syrup. Then I decided to go vegetarian and then when I learned about the milk industry, vegan. Eventually I began experimenting with raw foodism. But its not easy to be vegan and/or a raw foodist when you are working for 12-18 hours per day (attending school and work and other stuff). I then came across an article by Michael Pollan that knocked my socks off. I had to pick a topic for speech class and decided to focus on the food bill, the subject matter of Pollan’s article. During the course of the class I learned everything and more I ever wanted to know about the Food Bill, initially passed as part of the New Deal package. After the class was done, I found myself reading "The Worst Hard Time" by Timothy Egan. This book set the stage for events that would more or less come about in the form of the AAA, The Agricultural Adjustment Act, eventually called the Food Bill. "The Worst Hard Time" was about the events that led to the Dust Bowl. Its a book I consider required reading. Kingsolver’s book however, is a bit more positive and hopeful. That its not necessary to eat terrible food dictated by marketing and profit. Food is a basic necessity and to someone like me, taste is equally essential. Food is something to be enjoyed and savored, and Kingsolver writes beautifully on how her family accomplished that in the first year they grew the majority of their food. I am no where close to growing my own food. I am interested in it, but worried about the practicality of going about it. While I do grow some herbs and a tomato and red pepper plant is currently in the works, how does one go about eating local food in a city? I’ve been to the farmer’s market more this year than any previous year. The ability to have truly fresh and organic food is amazing. Trying to eat in season is fun, as it really makes me look forward to new seasons and appreciate what we have or had. I am not sure how to conclude this, but read Kingsolver’s book, its worth it.