Chapters 16-20
Due to the nature of the author’s one year project, the final quarter of the book encompasses several of the most celebrated holidays. This gives Kingsolver a chance to talk about several oddities regarding seasonal celebrations. There are several anecdotes within these chapters regarding culture’s ability to override reality. Children paint yellow leaves and cut out snowflakes, even in parts of the country where snow is for all intents and purposes a myth. Children sing songs about British Skylarks, regardless of the fact that such a bird has never naturally lived on this continent. She expresses frustration at the fact that a local columnist suggests that January is the perfect time for pesto sauce made with freshly crushed basil.
Thanksgiving prompts her to lament the artificial nature of American food culture. Only two holidays have a uniquely “American” feel to their menus. The Fourth of July is ruled by the grill. Everything is barbequed out of doors with no particular regard for the seasonal readiness of the livestock. Thanksgiving is characterized by a seasonally appropriate menu, but it is tarnished by the omnipresent canned pumpkin. Despite being a defining crop for this region of the world, every pumpkin recipe, from pies to cookies, begins with the ingredient “1 can (15oz) pumpkin.” The author resolves to cook with actual pumpkin, which results in an excellent (but unsightly) pumpkin soup.
The end of the book was very interesting and almost sort of funny at parts. We thought it was strange but hilarious how fascinated the author was by the turkeys’ mating rituals. The detail she went into describing it was pretty unbelievable. We liked seeing the change she noticed at the end of the book; men at the farmers market starting to sell organically and people in general changing their habits to be more environmentally healthy. We too have noticed this change taking place in the world today. Also we thought it was scary when she talked about how many acres of corn it took to produce just one family’s year worth of soda. It was even scarier when she talked about how little farmland each person in 40 years will have dedicated to them.
It seems to us that throughout the book Kingsolver’s overall tone and style of writing have slightly changed. At the beginning of the book she seems very authoritative, and although at one point early in the book she mentions that her goal is not to scold people for not buying locally, but to open their eyes to other options, she still seems to be overbearing and harsh about the subject. In the last chapter of the book Kingsolver’s tone changes greatly; we think that the cycle of their turkeys may have affected her tone in that they “softened” her up a little. She leaves her audience with a feeling of content, like she has just changed the world because of her family’s dedication. We felt that Kingsolver was much more laid back in the last chapter quite possibly because she felt the success of their food life and she knows that it will affect many people. After reading this book we noticed that she really opened our eyes to the world of food and some of us will try to change our patterns to help the environment and agriculture industry, while also saving a few dollars.
