Book: The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan: A. Must. Read.
So, let me preface this post by saying I'm super excited right now to talk about one of my very-berry favorite books: The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan.
I am not lying (and only SLIGHTLY exaggerating) when I say that this book changed my life. While it is not the only reason that I got interested in science, it was one of my first experiences with it as something bigger and better than a set of required high school classes. This book discusses the relationship between plants and humans over the years and uses the apple, the tulip, the cannabis plant, and the potato as case studies for this plant-human interaction. First off, I have never looked at these plants the same way: Pollan emphasizes not only their historical significance, but also our dependence on them (or rather, WHY they are important and HOW they became so deeply wrapped up in the human experience).
I won't spoil anything by giving away the important points Pollan makes about each plant, but let it suffice to say that he does an extremely thorough job of covering these topics (and his writing is extremely clear, engaging, and conversational). I would like to address one of the main points that Pollan makes, particularly about the apple and the potato, but that he has brought up in many contexts: monoculture farming.
Pollan has become somewhat of a hero when it comes to advocating sustainable farming practices. His criticism of monoculture is really effective, in my opinion. The basis of his critique is in pointing out that modern day farming has resulted in the decimation of crop biodiversity. For instance, a farmer will typically not plant an acre of this plant, an acre of another plant, etc.. Nor will they develop their own crop lines by artificially selecting successful plants. Additionally, there are only a very select few species (in some cases only one) of any give crop that are considered lucrative, so farmers tend toward this selection. This situation ensures that two corn farmers will not only be farming almost exclusively corn, but their corn will be genetically identical to the other corn. The corn that is planted (and most other crops) have been genetically modified to be resistant to pests, drought, and/or frost, meaning that the farmer stops needing to select for their own traits (even if they attempted, modern day GM crops are sterile, and if they aren't sterile, then collecting seed would be considered illegal because companies have patented certain genetic alterations in these species). The issue with all of these practices is that it 1. opens up farms to catastrophic destruction by pests, 2. is not sustainable or environmentally friendly, and 3. subjects the practice of farming to monopolization by corporations which makes it difficult for independent farmers to compete and can potentially lead to exploitation of the farmers.
I won't address all of these issues today (that would increase the size of this post 10-fold), but I will give a one-phrase extrapolation or exemplification of each point. 1. Irish potato famine, 2. sterile crops, 3. Indian farmers committing suicide.
I am going to stray away from the topic of this post for just a second to clarify something: While I am not opposed to genetic modification of plants as a quick-fix to many problems in agriculture (these plants have proven extremely helpful in many cases, and it appears that they are totally safe for consumption), it is my belief, emphasis on belief, that GM crops are an unsustainable approach to farming. I think that we shouldn't stop with GM crops; we should continue to pursue different avenues of agricultural progress, which includes pursuing more natural and more sustainable approaches to problems presented to farmers.
Bottom line: this book is fantastic, and I really enjoyed it. It also brings up a lot of points for discussion, including the co-evolution of plants and human psychology, and the topic of monoculture and farming practices.
Check out this book on goodreads.com
Or get your own copy on amazon.com
**Photo from https://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/13839.The_Botany_of_Desire
I am not lying (and only SLIGHTLY exaggerating) when I say that this book changed my life. While it is not the only reason that I got interested in science, it was one of my first experiences with it as something bigger and better than a set of required high school classes. This book discusses the relationship between plants and humans over the years and uses the apple, the tulip, the cannabis plant, and the potato as case studies for this plant-human interaction. First off, I have never looked at these plants the same way: Pollan emphasizes not only their historical significance, but also our dependence on them (or rather, WHY they are important and HOW they became so deeply wrapped up in the human experience).
I won't spoil anything by giving away the important points Pollan makes about each plant, but let it suffice to say that he does an extremely thorough job of covering these topics (and his writing is extremely clear, engaging, and conversational). I would like to address one of the main points that Pollan makes, particularly about the apple and the potato, but that he has brought up in many contexts: monoculture farming.
Pollan has become somewhat of a hero when it comes to advocating sustainable farming practices. His criticism of monoculture is really effective, in my opinion. The basis of his critique is in pointing out that modern day farming has resulted in the decimation of crop biodiversity. For instance, a farmer will typically not plant an acre of this plant, an acre of another plant, etc.. Nor will they develop their own crop lines by artificially selecting successful plants. Additionally, there are only a very select few species (in some cases only one) of any give crop that are considered lucrative, so farmers tend toward this selection. This situation ensures that two corn farmers will not only be farming almost exclusively corn, but their corn will be genetically identical to the other corn. The corn that is planted (and most other crops) have been genetically modified to be resistant to pests, drought, and/or frost, meaning that the farmer stops needing to select for their own traits (even if they attempted, modern day GM crops are sterile, and if they aren't sterile, then collecting seed would be considered illegal because companies have patented certain genetic alterations in these species). The issue with all of these practices is that it 1. opens up farms to catastrophic destruction by pests, 2. is not sustainable or environmentally friendly, and 3. subjects the practice of farming to monopolization by corporations which makes it difficult for independent farmers to compete and can potentially lead to exploitation of the farmers.
I won't address all of these issues today (that would increase the size of this post 10-fold), but I will give a one-phrase extrapolation or exemplification of each point. 1. Irish potato famine, 2. sterile crops, 3. Indian farmers committing suicide.
I am going to stray away from the topic of this post for just a second to clarify something: While I am not opposed to genetic modification of plants as a quick-fix to many problems in agriculture (these plants have proven extremely helpful in many cases, and it appears that they are totally safe for consumption), it is my belief, emphasis on belief, that GM crops are an unsustainable approach to farming. I think that we shouldn't stop with GM crops; we should continue to pursue different avenues of agricultural progress, which includes pursuing more natural and more sustainable approaches to problems presented to farmers.
Bottom line: this book is fantastic, and I really enjoyed it. It also brings up a lot of points for discussion, including the co-evolution of plants and human psychology, and the topic of monoculture and farming practices.
Check out this book on goodreads.com
Or get your own copy on amazon.com
**Photo from https://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/13839.The_Botany_of_Desire