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{31 Days} Back to Basics Day 5

This month I am participating in the nester’s {31 Days} challenge.  My topic for the month is Back to Basics.  If you would like to follow along,  you can find all of my posts here.

There are two books that have really encouraged me with our
local eating journey.  The first is the
book Plenty: Eating Locally on the 100-Mile Diet. It is about a couple who decide to eat
only what is available in a 100 mile radius of their home for an entire
year.  Can you imagine?  Think about if you couldn’t just run to the
grocery store to get bananas (unless perhaps you live close to a banana
tree!).  Having to totally rely on what
is available locally, and to really plan for that.  I will talk more about meal planning (or not)
and local eating soon.

Another book that was really monumental in the life my
family strives for is Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Lifewhich
is about a family’s journey to spend one year only sourcing food they grow themselves
or can buy in their neighborhood.  That
book especially appeals to me now because I have a family.  There is something easy about only having to
cook for yourself, or perhaps a spouse, but when you add kids into the mix it
becomes a whole other ball game.
And finally, a book/documentary combo.  That would be No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet, and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process.  He
has both a book and a documentary.  I
think that it is pretty incredible to set out trying to have absolutely no
impact on the environment, and I am not sure how realistic that is.  But, I do like his message of reducing your
usage of pretty much everything.  I think
the fact that he is doing it in NYC may be easier in some ways than
others.  I certainly can’t imagine living
in the country and having no access to a car. 
The fact that they ate what was available in their immediate area was
great though.
These books are incredible reads, and I definitely recommend
them.  In fact, I find myself re-reading
them year after year because they are so encouraging.  There is something nice about reading someone
else’s journey when it is a journey you want to be on yourself.  And that is a major reason why I keep writing
in this space.  I hope that others are
able to relate to my journey, and maybe get some encouragement.

Do you have a favorite
book that follows the journey of another person whose values closely resemble
your own?

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