Journal #2

Chapters 6-10

During the beginning of this section, Kingsolver discussed the topic of raising turkeys and chickens on their farm, and how her daughter Lily wanted to be the sole keeper of the chickens. It was very interesting how Kingsolver incorporated raising chickens to sell their eggs into a life-lesson. Her daughter wanted a horse so Kingsolver agreed to pay for half of the horse, but Lily would have to raise enough money for her half by selling eggs. Initially Lily was not planning on raising roosters to be butchered and sold as meat; she only wanted to sell the eggs. When Lily realized how much money she would need to raise for her horse she decided that she would harvest roosters as well and only keep the hens as “pets”. Most urban people wouldn’t consider raising turkeys and chickens as a “life-lesson” but the main idea is how a person views the situation.

As a group we found the topic of poultry very interesting.  Kingsolver writes about how 99 percent of the turkeys eaten by Americans cannot fly, mate, or walk far unassisted.  It is hard to believe that an animal as been breed to a point that they cannot reproduce on their own and the turkey eggs must be fertilized by human hands.  Even more surprising is that there are so few different species of turkeys left in the world compared to 100 years ago.  The kind of turkey the author chose to raise there is one known breeder left in the United States.  Chickens are also in a similar condition with the variation between breeds have been almost wiped out by the mass production of chicken breast.

Another point that we found interesting was the topic of family meal time. In both chapters six and seven the family demonstrates how food is a great opportunity to bring together everyone in an appropriate atmosphere. The family meal time allows for family and friends to congregate and the “food time” helps maintain positive healthy relationships. It was also interesting that on this family’s farm, each member usually helps to prepare the meal. A person may think that it is a burden to have to prepare all of these vegetables, let’s face it, it’s a very time consuming ordeal, but Kingsolver and her family look at the “burden” as a chance to work together and sometimes experiment with their different crops. Also an important aspect of food is that it knows no age barriers, all humans must eat and therefore the time for meal gatherings is a perfect opportunity for families to spend time together.

The author establishes her authority on the material in this autobiography because she lives out the actions she describes in the text. She eats local, grows her own food (without chemicals or sophisticated equipment), harbors heirloom plants, raises her own animals, the list goes on and on. That assigns her an authority to that anyone who didn’t follow this lifestyle would not attain, for this is not just a matter if skill and technique, but a matter of sacrifice. She can “talk the talk” because she busts her ass and reaps the rewards of her challenging but fulfilling lifestyle. She is credible in both knowledge and devotion.

Another section that we found interesting was in chapter eight when Kingsolver discusses the “real” price of food. The majority of today’s society does not grow their own food because they are forced to believe that it is too expensive; people are actually being deceived. One of our group members recently found an article from Time Magazine that discusses the drawbacks of paying for “cheap” food. Although the prices may seem cheap at first, in reality we are spending our tax dollars to cover the cost of gasoline to power the trucks that transport the food, and we also pay a high cost to the environment such as chemical fertilizers and contaminated manures that can wash into the Mississippi River, down to the Gulf of Mexico where it can kill a large number of fish. Despite just the environmental effects, our food is also becoming dangerous from the antibiotics that Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOS) are giving to the animals to protect them from diseases. Eventually the animals may develop a resistant to these antibiotics, killing off our meat supply. So at first harvesting oour own vegetables and crops may seem expensive, but in the long run it may definitely pay off.