Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, by Barbara Kingsolver. Harper, 2007.

This is the story of a family that changed their eating habits in one year by eating food they produced in their own garden and or food that was raised locally. After moving from dry Arizona, they landed on a small farm in one of the Carolina's, a farm they carefully cultivated to supply various types of vegetables, fruits, and herbs.

They also raised chickens and turkeys which they slaughtered for meat and or raised for eggs. The chickens and turkeys were given wide open spaces to forage . Seldom did the family of four ever go out to eat and for most of the time were vegetarians.  No fast foods were ever purchased.

Canning, freezing, drying methods made possible the use of a multitude of foods for the entire year. What they didn't raise on their own farm, they kept their eyes open for bargains at yearly farmers' markets, thus reducing the cost of fossil fuel use to ship from faraway places. They also made wise choices of foods in season which saved many a dollar; these they often bought in bulk and either canned or froze or dried such items.

At the end of the year, the family noticed a great difference in their eating habits and had grown accustomed to healthy eating habits. For the next year they planned for more interesting new kinds of fruits and vegetables in the many catalogs that came their way. 

(Thanks to Sr. Irene Hartman OP for this review.)                                                             



St. Catherine of Siena (1347-80): April 29

She was the 23rd child of Jacopo and Lapa Benincasa and grew up as an intelligent, cheerful and intensely religious person. Catherine disappointed her mother by cutting off her hair as a protest against being overly encouraged to improve her appearance in order to attract a husband. Her father ordered her to be left in peace, and she was given a room of her own for prayer and meditation.

She entered the Dominican Third Order at 18 and spent the next three years in seclusion, prayer and austerity. Gradually a group of followers gathered around her--men and women, priests and religious. An active public apostolate grew out of her contemplative life. Her letters, mostly for spiritual instruction and encouragement of her followers, began to take more and more note of public affairs. Opposition and slander resulted from her mixing fearlessly with the world and speaking with the candor and authority of one completely committed to Christ. She was cleared of all charges at the Dominican General Chapter of 1374.

Her public influence reached great heights because of her evident holiness, her membership in the Dominican Third Order, and the deep impression she made on the pope. She worked tirelessly for the crusade against the Turks and for peace between Florence and the pope

In 1378, the Great Schism began, splitting the allegiance of Christendom between two, then three, popes and putting even saints on opposing sides. Catherine spent the last two years of her life in Rome, in prayer and pleading on behalf of the cause of Urban VI and the unity of the Church. She offered herself as a victim for the Church in its agony. She died surrounded by her "children" and was canonized in 1461. 

Catherine ranks high among the mystics and spiritual writers of the Church. In 1939, she and Francis of Assisi were declared co-patrons of Italy. Paul VI named her and Teresa of Avila doctors of the Church in 1970. Her spiritual testament is found in The Dialogue.