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Development History of Genetically Modified Food
Genetically modified crops around the world
History of genetically modified food
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Analysis of The Botany of Desire
Michael Pollan’s book The Botany of Desire delves deep into the issues of nature’s
interaction with genetically modified potatoes, but also focuses on all of genetic engineering in
relation to natural organisms. Pollan outsets his chapter with his background of his own position,
that he is a gardener. (However, this fact does not make him a true authority over the examination
of genetic engineering.) He further develops his chapter through the cross examination of different
points in geographical space and historical periods of time where the potato has changed a people
or the people have changed the potato. Pollan mentions how the Irish, English, and Incas interacted
with and altered our perception
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of the potato. He also interjects occasionally with his own NewLeaf growing experiment, as well as his thoughts and reflections. Pollan’s method of showing us his evidence, not just explicitly stating his point of view, maintains his objectivity throughout Pollan’s discussion and investigation into the potato deals with the matter of artificiality versus nature, as well as the true intentions of Monsanto. On one hand Monsanto’s intent may just be to make a profit of creating and selling modified specimens. But Monsanto may believe their highly resilient NewLeaf potato may be the new standard of potatoes. It seems logical that the Monsanto Corporation is doing real hard science in the way of revolutionizing agriculture and genetics, something Pollan looks deep into. Pollan divides this chapter chronologically, but it may also seem to jump around anachronously. Pollan brings his audience through the trials of his own NewLeaf experiment, noting the day and month of his journal style entries along the way. Pollan follows the scientific method in his NewLeaf experiment: introducing the NewLeaf, then planting the NewLeaf, recording observations, and eventually digging it up and eating it. He also includes large sections which seem to cut off his chronologically ordered entries, but to good effect. The sometimes sporadic placement of the ideas may be at times disorienting. But this is what sets up all his concepts and introduces the topics through out the chapter. These sections provide the necessary insight into the past; the dated sections give the reader a history of the potato, a window to peer through. With the knowledge of how past peoples have interacted with and been changed by the potato, it furthers our own understanding of Pollan's method in his experiment. He uses this technique of jumping through time in order to support his concepts and observations surrounding the potato. The historical and reflection interjections provide the supporting evidence for what his main idea is: the past and present conflicts associated with the agriculture, economics, and even politics surrounding the potato. While he investigates the background and development of the potato historically, the dated segments found throughout the chapter show the reader how he is also offering his own thoughts on the NewLeaf. Where a journalist write an article and searches for authoritative sources to verify their information, Pollan also takes a journalistic approach to the subject; he looks for verification of ideas, authorities on the issue, and supporting evidence in his investigation in the Pollan organizes his chapter in a sectioned style: first telling the history and background of the potato and following it up with his own reflections. Each part of a section is accompanied by excerpts, stories, or other information relevant to his investigation. The first part of each section expounds on the potato by explaining its historical background and including passages Pollan takes from his own encounters with farmers such as Danny Forsyth among others. Pollan also mentions his visits to places such as Monsanto's headquarters, where he spoke with Monsanto engineers and officials. In this way, Pollan takes a journalists investigation approach: finding facts on the history, science, politics, and economics surrounding the potato, and interviewing authorities or those who are involved with potato farming and its intricacies in the effort to find direct or indirect evidence. The second part of the sections are where Pollan reverts to his own experiment relating that information he gathered, his thoughts, and what people have told him to the previous section; he also keep entries on the progress of his experiment to progress the readers knowledge of his The historical parts of each section, where Pollan looks back into the past, include a detailed account of the interactional ties the potato has had in places such as the Andes, Ireland, and England.
Pollan analyzes the way in which the agriculture of the potato changed cultures of
the people. Underlying this is also the economic and political implication the potato had. In the
case of the Irish in 1588 (198), the potato rose as the miracle source of sustenance while boosting
their economic status and fell as monoculture practices doomed the potato in Ireland. Similarly,
Pollan provides a background of how people saw the potato and those who cultivated it. In
England in 1794 (202) the potato represented a lack of culture due to its association with coming
from the dirt and not requiring any refinement, as wheat did. Pollan's historical descriptions
substantiate his information. This information directly supplements his NewLeaf experiment and
Pollan's approach to the subject of the NewLeaf potato is presented fairly and seems to
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be balanced. He looks for both sides of the issue giving each an equal amount of say. Specifically, when he travels to other states to visit various farmers he gets the opinions of farmers who use different products or farming techniques. One farmer, Danny Forsyth, uses the pesticides, fungicides, and insectides in spraying routines for pest control in the effort to “clean” the fields.
But Forsyth explicitly states how no farmer “'would use them if we had any choice,'.” (218) To be
fair in his chapter Pollan includes the opposite side's view, that of Steve Young. Pollan visits Steve
Young who is the model “of a man in complete control.” (220) Young has a fully automated farm
and relies heavily on the use of chemicals in his farming, even owning a share in the local
chemical distributor. Pollan maintains a fair representation of both sides in his chapter through
presenting these two sides on the NewLeaf as well as Monsanto's chemicals.
Instead of outright saying that farming chemicals are awful and should not be used, Pollan uses
Forsyth's account. In reference to the chemical Monitor, which is one of countless other pesticides
and insecticides, Forsyth puts in perspective how lethal it is: he would rather loose his entire crop
“than expose himself or an employee to this poison.” (219) However, as aforementioned, Forsyth
has no alternative. To ensure fairness here, Pollan presents Mike Heath's organic farming style not
using chemicals and relying on diversified nonmonoculture farming. Pollan also notes
how displeasing the disorder in his farm was. Also part of Pollan becoming a journalistic investigator was making sure he found the proper credibility. While Pollan did not himself have the necessary qualifications as just a gardener, he expands this limitation by visiting and questioning Monsanto engineers and farmers
Pollan used the technique of ethos in order to appeal his trustworthy to his audience. Michael pollen organized his argument very well. He builds the arguments, by going through and describing the facts and claims he made regarding the western diet, followed by reasoning which made his argument trustworthy, like first he made claim that “stop eating a western diet” After that he gave reason for his claim that why we should escape western diet. He mention that “We should escape the western diet because western diet is a processed diet which has more carbohydrates and less micro nutrients which are the cause of many harmful diseases in United States” Pollan explain that lack of micro-nutrients, omega-3 fatty acids are the main cause of many chronic diseases in our country. To support his view on issue, He also describe the neo-lipid, omega-3 and carbohydrates hypothesis. Pollan quoted Denis Burkett
In “What’s Eating America”, Michael Pollan starts off his article by providing his audience with a background on the history of corn and its production. Additionally, he goes through both the sinister and positive sides in the history of corn, all while building a connection with his audience through his utilization of ‘we’ pronouns and by having direct conversations with his readers inside parentheticals. He continues to develop this connection throughout the text in order to slowly inch the reader towards his argument, which he presents in the final paragraph of the piece as a climax to the slow buildup of facts that previously followed the main argument. In addition, he surprises his readers by drawing grisly connections between corn and Zyklon B, amongst other images, creating a visual in the minds of his readers of corn as a malicious entity. He does this in order to to bolster his argument against the industrialization of food production, placing it in a gory, gruesome frame,
In Ireland, at the time, there was only one strain of potatoes being grown. At the time, citizens of Ireland were mainly eating potatoes and drinking milk. These two menu items provided them with all the necessary nutrients required for a healthy diet(History Magazine). The Irish were only growing one strain of potatoes at the time. When a fungus came through Ireland that only affected that strain of potatoes, it wiped out the entire potato population in Ireland, causing a famine to occur. This famine killed one million people and caused two million to move out of Ireland in a quest to find food. Potatoes killed one million people, or should I say the lack of potatoes killed one million people. This famine became one of the deadliest famines in history. After the potatoes were wiped out, the Irish started growing more than one strain of potatoes in order to ensure that another famine similar to the Irish Potato Famine of 1845 could not happen again. The Irish Potato Famine led to the Industrial Revolution(Ted Talks). When 2 million people were forced out of Ireland while the famine was going on, they moved to European countries. This boost in population aided the Industrial Revolution because now there were enough people to sustain the positions needed to run factories. We do not know where the world would be if the famine had not happened, but it definitely would not be in the same place it is
If we say that the right hand side in picture 1 is the potato, and the
Schlosser sets off chapter 5: “Why the Fries Taste Good,” in Aberdeen, Idaho at the J. R. Simplot Plant where he introduces John Richard Simplot, “America’s great potato baron,” (Schlosser 111). Simplot dropped out of school at 15, left home, and found work on a potato farm in Declo, Idaho making 30 cents an hour. Simplot bought and turned profit on some interest-bearing scrip from some school teachers and used the money to at 600 hogs at $1 a head. He feed the hogs horse meat from wild horses he shot himself, later selling them for $12.50 a head. At age 16 Simplot leased 160 acres to begin growing Russet Burbank Potatoes. In the 1920s the potato industry was just picking up as Idaho was discovered to have the ideal soil and conditions for successfully growing potatoes (Schlosser 112). Soon Simplot was the “largest shipper of potatoes in the West, operating 33 warehouses in Oregon and Idaho,” (Schlosser 113). During World War II Simplot sold dehydrated potatoes and onions to the U.S. Army. By the time he was 36 he “was growing his own potatoes, fe...
While Maize thrived among Mediterranean countries, potatoes were met with prejudice do to its ugly appearance but eventually became a staple of Ireland, who used the calories to provide wheat for England. New crops increased output pin the same area of land, allowing England to have plenty of food, land, and export enough to begin industrialization. Coal further increased production in Britain, allowing it ti collect large enough profits in industrial goods to import foods, freeing up
Student ID: 23137443 The Human Desire of Control Michael Pollan uses the potato to address the idea of control, in particular, whether we have control over nature or it has control over us. Potatoes were first found in South America growing in the Andes. The ancestors of the Incas lived in that area and were the first known humans to cultivate these potatoes for human consumption (Pollan 131). When settlers came to the New World, they marveled at these new crops that grew from spuds and shipped them back to Europe.
There are several circumstances to take into consideration when looking at the causes of the Great Potato Famine in Ireland. Due to the great dependence the Irish people had on the potato, it is clear how blight could devastate a country and its people. To understand the Irish people's dependence on the potato for diet, income, and a way out of poverty, it is necessary to look at several key factors that were evident before the famine. Factors such farming as the only way of life, rise in population, and limited crops explain why the people of Ireland relied on the potato. But not only do these reasons clarify why the famine hit the Irish people so hard, other important factors play into effect as well. By looking at the weak relationship between England and Ireland through parliamentary acts and trade laws, it is more evident what the causes of the Great Famine are and why it was so detrimental.
The potato famine in Ireland from 1845-1852 sent thousands of poor farmers to America in hope of finding jobs. The Irish were overly dependent on the potato for a means of income, so when it faltered, so did their source of income. In America, the Irish worked in factories with
During the mid 1840’s, blight in the potato crops in Ireland caused widespread starvation and migration of Irish citizens to the United States. Yet, the massive loss of life and massive exodus could have been avoided if British taxation upon the working class of Ireland was nullified. Though the struggle for liberation was already taking place, the potato famine furthered the cause and helped spread awareness. Furthermore, the potato famine made the average Irish family more reliant upon the government for subsidies and supports to get by.
The populations of the New and Old Worlds were greatly affected by the Columbian Exchange. In the Old World, populations and life expectancies of individuals were flourishing. This was due to the exchanging of various edible plants between the two lands. In Europe, the introduction of the potato would greatly increase populations in many countries, especially Ireland. “The potato was originally grown in the Andes mountains” where the Natives first grew the tubular root (“Potato.”). Much of Europe was hesitant in growing and consuming the new food, but in 1794, during a wheat famine, soon came to love the new source of energy (“Potato.”) In Ireland, the potato quickly became a staple food as the population grew “by seven million in two centuries (“Potato.”).” With milk and approximately three acres of healthy potatoes planted, a family could be fed for two years, assuming no potatoes spoiled (“Potato.”). However, the Europeans weren’t the only ones who experienced the benefits of the Columbian Exchange. Maize was brought to Asia, causing rapid population growth, and wheat, beef, and plantain were of benefit to Native American’s nutrition (Crosby). However, Amerindian...
"Pesticides." Issues & Controversies On File: n. pag. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 18 July 2005. Web. 20 May 2011. .
...ortation of plants, fruits, vegetables, and animals. Indiscriminate pesticide use kills the good with the bad. Long term and wide spread pesticide use poisons underground water sources, which, in turn, poison plants, animals, and humans. And, finally, by our uninformed actions, new super races of pests continue to evolve and create even greater dangers than the original.
The cutting down on the uses of pesticides and fertilizers is one on the next great step we have to make as a society. It will take a long time to implement these changes and there will be Problems along this journey. The sooner we start this long journey. The longer we have to work out the Kinks in sustainable farming. We at least should think about the future generations that will live on earth. This is the one place we all have to call home and it’s our job to take care of it for the next generations. We can’t give them a problem that take a long time to fix because it could be too late to fix the problems in a generations or two. This is why we need to push the world to a sustainable farm
The introduction of the potato to the Old World increased the population in Europe. This is due to the fact that potatoes have a great source of calories, vitamins and fatty acids. As the quality and quantity of food went up so did the population. Potatoes were met with resistance in many places in Europe. The rulers of most country recognized the potato's beneficial nutrients and slowly the potato was integrated into Europeans diet. Some historians argue that potatoes were adopted by Europe because of the growing population rather than the idea potatoes helped the populations increase. Potatoes are the reason populations in Europe increased because of the surplus of nutrients the new crop provided.