About Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Bestselling author Barbara Kingsolver's first nonfiction narrative will open your eyes in a hundred new ways to an old truth: You are what you eat.

Since its release in May 2007, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle has helped launch a modern transition in America’s attitudes toward food. In this lively account of a family’s year of eating locally on their farm in Southern Appalachia, Barbara Kingsolver and her coauthors unearth the secret lives of vegetables and the unexpected satisfactions of knowing their food producers—and sometimes their dinner—on a first-name basis.

The family’s yearlong experience leads them through a season of planting, pulling weeds, expanding their kitchen skills, harvesting their own animals, joining the effort to save heritage crops from extinction and learning the time-honored rural art of unloading excess zucchini. Barbara Kingsolver’s engaging narrative is enriched by husband Steven Hopp’s in-depth reports on the science and industry of food, and daughter Camille’s youthful perspective on cooking and food culture. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life makes a passionate case for putting the kitchen back at the center of family life, and diversified farms at the center of the American diet.

Chicago Public Library's One Book, One Chicago program explores Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, in the 2016-2017 season. Join us as we explore the theme of "Eat. Think. Grow" throughout the season through a variety of programs. For details on all One Book, One Chicago offerings, visit www.onebookonechicago.org.