Spirited Discussion at Last AVM Book Talk
Genevienve’s Cheese Cake. It’s edible, even the decorations!
There must have been a few bittersweet moments for co-chairs Margery Leonard and Genevieve Angelides at the last session of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle held at the Fremont Main Library on Monday, May 17.
They had to certainly be happy that so much had been accomplished in the 2009/2010 One Book, One Community journey.
Some 20 sessions, held throughout the community, brought the important themes of the book to over 250 readers. The word “locavore” became a household word among AAUW Fremont Branch members. And many discussion attendees decided to plant gardens, buy fresh food at farmer’s markets and suddenly became aware of where the supermarket produce came from.
But there must have also been a feeling of sadness that it was all over – for this year at least. However, Genevieve and Margery are spearheading a search for the next big book for Fremont and the AAUW Fremont Branch The search will begin with a team in June and culminate in a fall announcement.
To celebrate the last session of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Genevieve purchased a huge carrot cake with cream cheese icing and with, miraculously, an edible picture of the cover of the book.
The 12 participants of this last session enjoyed the leadership of Oliviera Principal Linda Anderson. Linda highlighted the chapters that most captured her imagination and asked a variety of questions about Barbara Kingsolver’s (Linda felt she knew her well enough to call her Barbara) meanings, motivations and mindset.
Here are a few perspectives from the last get-together:
- Linda asked how our own families would feel if we told them we were pulling up stakes and going to live on a farm, grow our own food and nurture our own animals. Linda asked her own kids and they said they weren’t too keen on the idea. Of course, if the family planned to write a book on the adventure things might be different.
- The idea of planning ahead for the various seasons intrigued Linda and all the people attending the session. Some talked about pickling vegetables and canning fruits, others about freezing produce at its peak of flavor and serving it when it isn’t available.
- The group talked about current supermarket produce and how taste had gone out the window for looks. One attendee mentioned that he bought tomatoes in the supermarket 15 years ago but that they were flavorless and had no taste. It prompted him to shop at farmer’s markets where tomatoes are delicious and different.
- Gardens are mentioned a great deal in the book and Linda was heartened that gardens, formerly hidden at the back of the house, were moving to the front. She felt there was the acknowledgment now of how important it was to have a garden and how pretty they are.
- The subject of children and the importance of teaching kids how to lead a sustainable lifestyle was discussed. Linda mentioned that Oliviera school had gardens on the property and that the excess food was donated to a homeless shelter.
- The group talked about the difficulty of getting families to eat together given the busy sports and extracurricular schedules that kids have these days. But everyone agreed how important it was to spend that kind of family time together. Kingsolver sings the praises of cooking together and eating together as a family in her book.
- Linda asked what changes we’ve made since reading the book. Some readers present were more aware of what they eat and where it came from; others actually planted gardens and enjoyed the delicious vegetables that resulted from this; still others now go to farmer’s markets to get local produce.
- The last word came from Pete, Genevieve’s husband. “ I now hesitate,” he said with a guilty grin, “to eat a dollar McDonald’s cheeseburger.”