Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Agritourism is any kind of agriculturally-based activity or place that is also a destination for travelers or visitors. In this book, the fattoria that Kingsolver and Hopp visit in Italy is an agritourism destination. While the family does not open their farm to the agritourism business, they visit several who do. They also eat at a restaurant that is an offshoot of the agritourism business, as its point is to source and serve only local food.

Short for “concentrated animal feeding operations,” CAFOs are industrial feedlots that house at least 1,000,000 pounds of live animal weight at a time (91). These feedlots generally house hundreds of animals in a relatively small area, as regulated by federal law. The point of CAFOs is to produce as much meat for consumption as quickly and cheaply as possible. As a result, the animals often receive diets that are not usual for their species, are pumped with antibiotics to ward off disease, and are generally unhealthy until their slaughter. Kingsolver and her family argue strongly against CAFOs from every angle. They represent huge fuel costs, are inhumane to the animals, produce meat that is less healthy and less flavorful than other modes of farming, and represent a threat to farmers who do produce meat humanely.