Michael Pollan opens the book questioning the relationship of humans and nature.
Who is the subject and who is the object? Who really is domesticating who/ from a plant’s eye, he challenges the traditional relationship of human and nature present the argument that the four plants- Apples, Tulips ,Marijuana and the Potato, have shaped human evolution just like we shaped theirs. He calls it ‘’co-evolution’’. Nature plays a part in controlling us. He is what the plants know about our desires that made them grow, survive and spread around the world until today. Each has some qualities that know to stimulate human sense. The apples is a fruit that appeals to a human’s yearning for sweetness, the tulip is a flower that appeals to a human’s yearning for beauty, marijuana is a weed that appeals to a human’s desire for intoxication and the potato appeals to a human’s desire for control. As time goes by, in order to survive, plants learn to adapt, change forms to a new species to suit the environment as well as increase humans desire for them.
Chapter 1 Introduces the legendry ‘’Apple Tree Man’’, John Chapman who introduced the species to several locations in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. The book recounts the basic natural history of the apple and also explains apple’s importance in human civilization. An apple’s taste of sweetness is a noble quality and it symbolizes satisfaction of human desire. This chapter was filled with story of his journey how he planted thousands of apple trees across wild range of orchards and ultimately sold them cheaper than other apple cultures. The author praises Johns original way of plating seed, going from place to place and reminding us that the nature has its own natur...
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...o make me do it’’? Is the question that sprouts in Pollan’s mind one day as he works in his garden. More than most other foods, the easily cultivated, potato appeals to our desire to control the messy, nature, business of farming and feeding ourselves. The potato was also a godsend for the Irish who were unable to grow much of anything. This was until a fungus caused the great potato famine in the 19 century-killing over a million people. The potato has taught us a valuable lesson in biodiversity and the risk of non-culture . However, the demand today for a certain kind of MC Donald’s potato chip has resulted in farmers once again growing just one kind of potato.
The illusion of control enables life to be sweet, beautiful and intoxicating. Yet when too much value is placed on beauty it is essence is lost and the effects on society can be
devastating.
Morgan played on Danny, was, they gave gave him a bud in the beginning. That day, he told his plant a joke and watered it. The next day, his plant had branched out! He did the exact same thing thing he had done the day before. Watered it and told it a joke. When he woke up the next morning it got even larger. Danny was getting more and more excited each day the plant grew more, which meant Danny’s mom’s trick was working! By the third night, Danny’s mom suggested they should put the plant outside. He ran outside the next morning only to see that his plant had grown into a flower bush! He took plenty pictures to show his class. After he had gone to school and showed the pictures to his classmates, Mr.Morgan took the class outside. Danny saw all his plant, he also saw the ones he had on each day! To his surprise, his mom popped out from behind the bush. They told him about their plan. Danny was not mad at his mom, and he still got the last laugh. He also got the new music tape that he was owed. Danny should’ve done some research, because the article “Probing Question: Does talking to plants help them grow?” states that “ people would have to speak to their plants for at least several hours a day to enhance photosynthesis enough to influence plant growth”. He could have figured out his was all a
He does this so that his readers experience a rude awakening and realize that the corporations have been lying to them all this time. He first establishes a heavily-controlled relationship with his readers, only showing them what he wants them to see, through cherry-picking and the subtle manipulation of facts. He wants his audience to answer his question, “What’s Eating America?” Pollan wants them to realize that these businesses and farms that claim to be revolutionizing agriculture and saving the world are only looking for short-term profit. In the long run, these corporations are what is eating America. They consume her land, her resources, her peoples’ minds and her environment, all in the name of a measly
Berry does not hesitate in using harsh words and metaphors like “the hamburger she is eating came from a steer who spent much of his life standing deep in his own excrement in a feedlot”(Berry 10). This provokes the readers to feeling horrible about industrial eating. He uses our pride while pointing to the lies of the make-up of industrial foods. He plays on human self-preservation when writing about chemicals in plants and animals which is out of the consumer’s control. He tries to spark a curiosity and enthusiasm, describing his own passion of farming, animal husbandry, horticulture, and gardening. The aspect of feelings and emotions is, perhaps, the strongest instrument Berry uses in making his
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...
Whenever she encounter fields of flowers, she becomes captivated by the allure of the flowers. After seeing the flowers she is“stuck, I’m taken, I’m conquered, and I’m washed into it.” Nature captures her mind and hypnotizes her with its beauty, it becomes all she sees and experiences. Nature stops her in her tracks, and completely captures her attention.When she sees fields of flowers she “drops to the sand, I can’t move.” She becomes immobilized in its beauty, it controls her and becomes the only important thing on her mind. On the other hand, the complexity of nature also makes her overwhelmed. She states that the roses leave her “filled to the last edges with an immobilizing happiness. And is this not also terrible?” The rose’s beauty becomes too overbearing for Oliver, and keeps her captive from everything else; It becomes too much of a sensory overload. Nature has the ability to work with both sides, beauty and an
Beauty can be defined in many ways. Though, regardless of its definition, beauty is confined by four characteristics: symmetry, health, vibrancy and complexity. Michael Pollan, in the book The Botany of Desire, examines our role in nature. Pollan sets out to discovery why the most beautiful flowers have manipulated animals into propagating its genes. Most people believe that humans are the sole domesticators of nature, although, beauty in some sense has domesticated us by making us select what we perceive as beautiful. In flowers, for example, the most attractive ones insure their survival and reproductive success; therefore the tulip has domesticated us in the same way by insuring its reproduction. Whether it is beauty or instinct humans have toward flowers they have nevertheless domesticated us.
...to understand that we are not the only species that affects the world; we aren’t the only ones that have an impact on what will happen. Plants need to be viewed as a helping species in our world. All of these plants looked at by Michael Pollan are crops; they help us just as much as we help them by industrializing them they continue to thrive while we are able to profit off peoples wants a desires for these plants. They are continuing to adapt to be used by us, to be transported around the world, to feed our families. Plants play a major role in our lives that some people don’t understand and the greatest threat facing all of these plants is the threat of falling out of fashion, once people lose interest the wonder of these plants are lost.
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.
own garden.”, the metaphor mentioned by Candide of a garden is the life that we
The American diet is full of on-the-go amenities from an array of different meals; however, is this fuel actually causing harm to the body in the long run? What is in the American diet that sets American’s health apart from other parts of the world? The documentary Forks Over Knives states that “We spend 2.2 trillion dollars a year on health care, over five times more than the defense budget. In fact, we pay more per person for healthcare than any industrialized country in the world, yet we’re sicker than ever” (Forks Over Knives). Studies are finding that the excessive consumption of sweeteners, meats, and dairy products are many of the leading causes of American’s health failure.
In the ruins of ancient Peru and Chili, the remains of potatoes dating back to 500 B.C. have been found. Potatoes were such a part of Incan life that they not only ate them, but they worshiped them. "O Creator! Thou who givest life to all things and hast made men that they may live, and multiply. Multiply also the fruits of the earth, the potatoes and other food that thou hast made, that men may not suffer from hunger and misery."- Incan Prayer used to worship potatoes.
In the 1800's nearly 1/3 of Ireland's population had been dependent on potatoes. The potato was a very nutritious and easily produced crop that could survive in very poor soil. The potato also had a very high yield in a little area of land and the cost was very low, this was why the potato was one of the greate...
Planting a wicked seed will grow onto become a tree and as the growth progresses, so does the
Through conquest and exploration, apples were spread when Romans conquered England and when Spaniards brought them to Mexico and South America. It wasn’t until the mid 1600’s that the Pilgrims cultivated them in Massachusetts. It is believed that John Endecott, an early governor, was the first to bring an apple tree to North America, and the first orchard was planted on Beacon Hill by a clergyman named William Blaxton. It is Blaxton who is credited for growing the first named apple, the Yellow Sweeting. Once apples were established in New England, they played an active role in everyday life. As a fruit which was easily stored through the winter, as well as being very beneficial to settlers’ health, apples were a main staple in early settlers’ diets. Despite the fact that apples were not initially from North America, and have been growing disease-free for centuries in their native habitats, the early settlers found that the long, hot summers and cold winters of New England grew apples unlike anywhere else in the world. New England apples are known not only for their unique blend of tart and sweet flavors, but also for their size and freshness.
He traveled in a hollowed-out log with orchards worth of apple seeds with him and is a classic demonstration of the mutual benefit between people and plants. Humans give themselves too much credit when it comes to dominating and controlling other species. We believe that we can domesticate every plant, while in reality the process takes two to perform. For example, the oak tree denies domestication from humans, instead interacting primarily with squirrels. The squirrels are able to receive food through the acorns of the oak, while the oak benefits by the squirrels burying some of the acorns for the benefit of oak trees, resulting in no need for humans to step in to the perfectly functional arrangement. The relationship between humans and the apple was much the opposite, both benefitting greatly from one another. The apple has heterozygosity, meaning it has an immense amount of genetic variability. This allows the plant to easily grow in different climates, and by doing so it creates millions of different species. Johnny Appleseed played an important role in the establishment of apples all over America, managing to plant a chain of nurseries reaching from Pennsylvania to Indiana. He was welcomed into people’s homes as a legend, and in return for hosting him, Chapman would plant a few apple trees for them as a sign of thanks. Many settlers along his route also encouraged him to plant nurseries nearby, due to the apples main value back then being to produce hard cider. Chapman became a transporter of alcohol, as the apples were far too sour for anyone to eat on its own, and his popularity grew even further. The Prohibition came along, and the strike down on alcohol meant the cutting down of Chapman’s trees. Because of his extensive efforts to spread the seeds of the Apple tree, the