Post 8

Sadly there is only one week of summer left :( I'm going to wrap my project up in this last post and explain some of the connections I made to Barbara Kingsolver's book. First off, this past week went very well, progress with my training was a lot better compared to the previous week. I just keep doing the workouts my trainer gave me at my last session, hoping to improve my vertical. Although lately, I have been reading my butt off since I procrastinated. It paid off because once I finished Animal, Vegetable, Miracle I started to make connections. I don't know how long I sat here saying to myself "how in the world is food related to jumping?", but then I realized I was limiting myself to the plot of the book. There are so many more aspects to the book than just eating locally grown food. Once I got my head out of summer mode, I started writing down all of the different ways my project could relate to the book.
For starters we both had to make changes to our diets. It may not seem like a big deal but it truly is. Everything kind of revolves around food; I had to eat more frequently and consume more protein, whereas the Kingsolver family wrapped their entire life around producing their own food and eating healthier. The family and I both faced a physical challenge. My challenge this summer was pushing my body to its limit for training to increase my vertical jump. Day after day I pushed myself very similar to the manual labor the family had to do in order take care of the farm by planting, weeding, and collecting. Even though its sometimes a pain, we both still had to follow through otherwise nothing would get accomplished. Another connection I noted is that both of our families were affected. The entire Kingsolver family was affected in the decision to eat only locally grown food and managing the farm was a group effort. My family was affected when I started my project because when I brought home a list of foods that I was suppose to eat, instead of just buying me my own food our whole household ate the food I was assigned to. Barbara Kingsolver also wrote something along the lines of feeling better since her and her family haven't ate corn syrup or Fructose in over a year. Well I can actually feel a difference when I jump, I have more power in my legs and jumping seems easier. Throughout both of our projects we learned a lot. I learned the techniques to jumping, tons of new workouts, and how to eat right. In Animal, Vegetable, Miracle the family learned everything from what plants to grow during what season, where to get their meat/poultry, and how to prepare/save their produce for use of it during the winter time. Not to say that my project wasn’t life changing, but it was nothing compared to the life of the family in the book. The last chapter in the book is Titled Time Begins Again which means the family has all intentions of going on with their project. I also plan on continuing my project even though the writing part of it is complete, it can only help me in the future.
So as of now I am officially stating that my project was a success and I am glad that I was able to complete it! This summer was very educating and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle kind of inspired me so maybe next summer I will plant a garden. I do know one thing though, every time I open my fridge and there is a tomato, I will definitely think of the book :)
Hope everyone had an amazing summer and enjoys our last week of freedom! Good luck on the rest of your projects!