Kingsolver

There are two elements in the chapters to be read for tomorrow which really struck me. We already talked about the first thing in class: the difference between the two fields, the one that has been conventionally farmed, and the other one which was farmed organically from the very beginning. It is kind of shocking that even after ten years the former conventionally farmed field still shows signs how the soil was treated, that nature needs more than a decade to recover. It emphasizes that nature does not forget what has been done as fast as we wish it would.
The second point was not shocking, but irritated and perplexed me (I drew a big questionmark next to the text). I call it a "greenhouse-tomatoes-moment." It is the scene when the family buys vegetables in Montreal. Kingsolver describes their excitement as followed: “we were going to cheat time and celebrate the moment more than once. Asparagus season, twice in one year: the dream vacation” (158). Though they went there (with a hybrid gas-electric car) and bought the vegetables in person, this still partly contradicts how I understand their target/rule so far: only eat food that is in season and celebrate the "event."

Just a general note: After a while, I become slightly tired of the “happy family farming” description. Don’t they ever experience failure and exhaustion? By not talking about these aspects, the text becomes less credible because this makes me wonder if there are more things which remain unsaid.