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The Botany Of Desire Summary

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Michael Pollan’s book tells the story between the relationship of Man vs Nature, and the connection it has with life on Earth. He mentions his objective for his book: to view plants in an intimate relationship with humans by looking at ourselves differently. The book makes an adventure through history to forms of life now, and examines plants through multiple points of views. The Botany of Desire demonstrates a unique comparison of the terms “Botany” and “Desire” through his four chapters:apple,tulip,marijuana, and the potato. Pollan explains human desire and its exploitation from plants through the combination of sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control.
In chapter one,Pollan depicts the sweetness of apples(malus domestica) as a certain kind of “perfection.” He explains how the power of sweetness has lost fulfillment over time, but proceeds to be a driving force in evolution. “Could it be that sweetness is the prototype of all desire?” The chapter ventures through the evolution of the apple, and the historical advancements apple growers have made in order to change the taste of apples. For example, Pollan travels to Mount Vernon, Ohio to trace the remaining foundation of John Chapman’s apple trees(Johnny Appleseed). Pollan was enthused to trace the remains of the seeded apple trees, although …show more content…

Pollan illustrated human manipulation in the chapter of apples and how it has transformed the modern apple into require more pesticide than any other food crop. The tulip was an influencing factor in human behavior by tulipmania capturing the beauty that attracted the Dutch. Cannabis plants made humans desire intoxication to alter the way the brain operates. Lastly, the potato has contributed to the ongoing GMO debate due to biotechnology changing our relationship with nature. Pollan’s book was well-written, and influenced the way I view plants

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1. Explain why Michael Pollan finds the questions “What am I eating? And where in the world did it come from?” so difficult to answer. Michael Pollan finds this question so difficult because all food is made up of other foods, mostly corn. On page 17, he states, "any food whose provenance is so complex or obscure that is requires expert help to ascertain."

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Ford deeply appreciates the calmness of the orchards and the orderliness of the trees, how they expand for so long with nothing out of place. “The smell of burning almond brush in autumn will forever be a comfort solace to me.” (Ford 14). As said before, Ford loves everything about orchards, he can relax and unwind, the smell can take his thoughts to a time where most things felt quiet, plain and simple. “Old and grey now, but still I’ll steal off by myself into a neighbor's neat and tidy orchard.”

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Relevance between Food and Humans with Rhetorical Analysis In the modern industrial society, being aware of what the food we eat come from is an essential step of preventing the “national eating disorder”. In Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma, he identifies the humans as omnivores who eat almost everything, which has been developed into a dominant part of mainstream unhealthiness, gradually causing the severe eating disorder consequences among people. Pollan offers his opinion that throughout the process of the natural history of foods, deciding “what should we have for dinner” can stir the anxiety for people based on considering foods’ quality, taste, price, nutrition, and so on.

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The procedure of how food is made does not come into concern, only the results do. That is how large industrial farms are accepted, because they provide proficiently. The outcome of industrial farms outweighs the negative impacts, at least to industrial farmers. Pollan responds to Berry’s statement by agreeing with him on the issue of the current industrial model being acceptable to some consumers, only due to the fact that

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In the essay “Green monster” who do you believe is his intended audience and why? In “The Green Monster,” James McWilliams informs the reader about GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) and the affects it has on animals, plants, farmers and our food. Through multiple illustrations of the affects of GMO, he contends that GMO has various potential consequences, which may in fact be more positive than detrimental to food sustainability. His intended audience seems to be food consumers but more specifically, those uninterested in or wary of products which are genetically modified.

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