City-dwellers Return to the Farm and Gardening

I am currently reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver (2007). Barbara Kingsolver is a popular novelist who wrote the lovely stories "Animal Dreams" and "The Bean Trees." Kingsolver is one of the few successful, creative women I've encountered who use motherhood and domesticity to cultivate their creativity, making it richer than before. She seems to balance the two with ease and good nature.

The book is also authored by her husband, Steven L. Hopp and her daughter, Camille Kingsolver. The authorship is just one example of the commitment her family took to bring awareness to the degradation of the food we eat.

Her family decided to change their lifestyle, move to a small farm and commit themselves to growing their own food and only eating locally for year's time. The book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is an account of their year. It is more than a memoir. They include resources, statistics about pesticide use, petroleum costs for food delivery, food diversity and variety changes, and factory farming. They also help city-dwellers understand why small farms are still critical to our society and not merely for nostalgia.

They aren't the only ones plucking themselves away from the convenience of grocery stores and urban living. Many people are choosing to return to small farm living as a way to live a sustainable, healthy life.

Looking for more?
Farm Challenges: a hobby farmer shares his experience
http://www.farmforfun.com/Farm_Challenges.html

Learn how changes in the Farm Bill could lead to fewer choices for consumers.
http://www.sustainableagriculturecoalition.org/

Organic fruit growing grants
http://ofrf.org/grants/apply.html

Want to grow your own food without moving onto a small farm? Try organic container growing.
http://journeytoforever.org/garden_con.html

Non-toxic green product information
http://safegreenliving.blogspot.com/