I read an article about it in the NYT a couple of months ago. I'm all for being gentle to the planet, but that's extreme. And his poor wife! Did you see the trailer? There's a trailer and a good article on Grist.

The picture of her trudging up the stairs carrying the baby made me sad. How many of our ancestors developed arthritis prematurely by carrying things up and down to their 4th floor walkup? And she was doing 9 flights!

d

I'm with you! I don't want ot give up central heat or electricity, and I love hot water from the faucet, not from a kettle heated on a wood stove. We had a flush toilet at my grandparents farm by the time I was about 4, though the outhouse was still there for a few more years for those kids who were more interested in staying outside than going through the house to the bathroom. There was always a danger of being asked to do a chore if one when inside. I don't remember using newspapers though, though I remember comments about soft toilet paper instead of an old catalog, so the switch must have been made not too long before.

I remember cold winter days with the wind howling around the house and ice on the nailheads. The house had a big kerosene heater in the dining room/all purpose room and a pipe that sent a bit of heat to the upstairs. There was a wood or trash burning stove in the kitchen that my grandfather used to fire up with a bit of kerosene (there was a tank next to the machine shed) every morning. I didn't spend too much time there during the winter, mostly at Christmas time, so I didn't experience all of the hardships.

I remember oranges and nuts at Christmas, too, though we always got some toy or book to go along with them. I remember my brother told me that Brazil nuts were baby toes so that I wouldn't touch them and he could grab my share. And I remember long winter evenings picking nuts, too. I still have one of the nut picks we used to use. That part was ok. My brother or father would crack them, very carefully, and the rest of us would pick and watch Disney with a big fire in the fireplace.

Still, I believe in living as lightly as we can within the bounds of reasonable comfort. My house is cooler than I'd like it to be during the winter, but with judicious use of a space heater in my office, and a flannel shirt or sweater (or both), I can be reasonably comfortable without spewing too much pollution. And it's amazing how much water you don't have to use. People don't often realize the cost to the environment of processing the thousands of gallons of potable water that we waste each year.

As you said, it's difficult to eat exclusively from what's grown within a few hundred miles, but do we need grapes from Chile during the winter? Or tomatoes from Mexico, or any of a dozen things we take for granted? I think not.

d

When you mentioned pickled vegetables, I have to confess that I have a weakness for palm hearts and pickled artichokes on my winter salads, though I often  pass them by for canned fruit or home pickled beets.

d

Even our ancestors enjoyed food from far away. I don't feel guilty about it, but I don't make a habit of it. Obviously, you don't, either, since you eat so much home grown and frozen-at-home food.

I think I need to make a Costco run. I have some lovely red peppers on a couple of plants that I dragged into the greenhouse before frost. With a few fresh greens, it will make a pretty salad.

d