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Genevienve's Cheese Cake. It's edible, even the decorations! |
There must have been a few bittersweet
moments for co-chairs Margery Leonard and Genevieve Angelides at the last
session of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle held at the Fremont Main Library on Monday, May 17.
They had to certainly
be happy that so much had been accomplished in the 2009/2010 One Book,
One Community journey.
Some 20 sessions, held
throughout the community, brought the important themes of the book to
over 250 readers. The word “locavore” became a
household word among AAUW Fremont Branch members. And many discussion
attendees decided to plant gardens, buy fresh food at farmer’s markets
and suddenly became aware of where the supermarket produce came from.
But there must have
also been a feeling of sadness that it was all over – for this year at
least. However, Genevieve and Margery are spearheading a search
for the next big book for Fremont and the AAUW Fremont Branch The
search will begin with a team in June and culminate in a fall announcement.
To celebrate the last
session of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Genevieve purchased a huge
carrot cake with cream cheese icing and with, miraculously, an edible
picture of the cover of the book.
The 12 participants of
this last session enjoyed the leadership of Oliviera Principal Linda Anderson.
Linda highlighted the chapters that most captured her imagination and asked
a variety of questions about Barbara Kingsolver’s (Linda felt she
knew her well enough to call her Barbara) meanings, motivations and mindset.
Here are a few perspectives
from the last get-together:
- Linda asked how our own families would feel if we told them we were
pulling up stakes and going to live on a farm, grow our own food and
nurture our own animals. Linda asked her own kids and they
said they weren’t too keen on the idea. Of course, if
the family planned to write a book on the adventure things might be different.
- The idea of planning ahead for the various seasons intrigued Linda
and all the people attending the session. Some talked about
pickling vegetables and canning fruits, others about freezing produce at its
peak of flavor and serving it when it isn’t available.
- The group talked about current supermarket produce and how taste
had gone out the window for looks. One attendee mentioned
that he bought tomatoes in the supermarket 15 years ago but that
they were flavorless and had no taste. It prompted him to
shop at farmer’s markets where tomatoes are delicious and different.
- Gardens are mentioned a great deal in the book and Linda was heartened
that gardens, formerly hidden at the back of the house, were moving to the front.
She felt there was the acknowledgment now of how important it was to have
a garden and how pretty they are.
- The subject of children and the importance of teaching kids how to
lead a sustainable lifestyle was discussed. Linda mentioned
that Oliviera school had gardens on the property and that the excess food
was donated to a homeless shelter.
- The group talked about the difficulty of getting families to eat together
given the busy sports and extracurricular schedules that kids have these days.
But everyone agreed how important it was to spend that kind of family time together.
Kingsolver sings the praises of cooking together and eating together as a family in her book.
- Linda asked what changes we’ve made since reading the book.
Some readers present were more aware of what they eat and where it came from;
others actually planted gardens and enjoyed the delicious vegetables
that resulted from this; still others now go to farmer’s markets
to get local produce.
- The last word came from Pete, Genevieve’s husband. “
I now hesitate,” he said with a guilty grin, “to eat a dollar
McDonald’s cheeseburger.”
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