In case you don't know, I am a huge nerd. That was probably obvious the minute you found out that I'm a Latin teacher, but I'll reiterate just in case. I had a conversation with a friend back in the fall about books we loved. Nerdy enough? I raved over Gone with the Wind, she confessed to only having seen the movie. We got to talking about her mom's book club, and the social venue it provided, and I thought to myself, why not? Why not combine three awesome things: reading, eating out at different places, and hanging out with friends?!
Result: back in January, I started a book club with four other friends. A different person picks a book each month, and we gather for brunch the last weekend to discuss. And we actually do end up talking about the book a fair amount, though of course we do gossip and share stories like anyone would expect of a group of 5 girls. Anyway, tonight we met to talk about Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer. The book itself was very interesting; a young woman and her boyfriend had just moved to a rather unsavory area of Oakland, CA, next to an abandoned lot, so they decided to start a garden there. The garden turned into a mini farm; she had chickens, ducks, turkeys, bees, and eventually, pigs, along with all the vegetables. It was a bit crazy, reading about how she harvested peas then witnessed a drive by shooting. I was impressed an somewhat inspired by her desire to grow most of her own food, but I have come to the conclusion that her way of life was just that, a lifestyle. Being that committed to harvesting your own food requires a level of commitment that I just can't have if I want a full time job, which I do (desperately). I would definitely want to plant an extensive garden if and when I acquire the space, but I feel that when it comes to meat, I don't have the time or energy or funds to invest. I definitely agree that animals should be free-range, hormone free, etc, but I think we live in a world now where it's ok to buy your food from someone else; we don't need to be that connected to our food anymore. So, though I admire this woman's gumption, I have no real desire to become a farmer myself.
Our little group had a good time talking about the book; this month's chooser is all about organic farming and gardening, so it was fun to hear her talk about something she's passionate about. We met at a great place called The Ginger Exchange, in Inman Square. It was a cool, hip sushi place that I would love to go back to, and we had a nice time catching up and talking about aspects of life other than where our food comes from. All in all, a nice evening spent with friends. And what could be better than that?
ciao
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