Discussion Questions for Raspberries and Vinegar

Discussion Questions may be downloaded and printed off for personal or group use. Just click the PDF Dowload button at the bottom.

1. Do you know anyone as clueless and annoying as Jo? Someone who’s sure he or she is right and everyone else is just too stupid to catch on? How do you deal with people like that? How do you avoid being a person like that?



2. Have you given any thought to sustainable living? Would you use rat poison to get rid of mice, or where would you draw the line?



3. Do you grow a vegetable garden and, if so, why? What do you think of Jo and her friends’ reasons? Do you think God cares?




4. Zach and his youth group signed commitments to stay pure until marriage. This turned out to have been an important choice for him. Do you think he’d have made a different choice with Yvette if he hadn’t thought it out in advance?



5. Have you ever been so sure you knew God’s will for your life that you refused to consider alternatives? Did that turn out to be a good thing or a bad thing?




6. Have you ever tried to control everything and then been incapacitated and unable to carry through, like Jo with her broken arm? What did you learn through it?




7. What does living a simple life mean to you? Is it the same thing as easy?




8. Did you know that the majority of people who own a family farm require off-farm employment to make ends meet? What does it say about our society that those who provide the fuel for everyone’s daily life are getting paid so little?




9. These days we see little need to avoid instant gratification. Have you ever spent time waiting somewhere unpleasant until you could see the realization of your dreams, like the girls living in the old mousy trailer? Why? Was it worth it?




10. If you had a chance to visit Green Acres Farm (post mousecopalyse!) would you do it? What would you want to see, learn, or experience on a working farm?