What Is The Central Theme Of The Botany Of Desire By Pollan

Throughout chapter 4 of The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan, the topic of monoculture is greatly discussed as Pollan’s central theme. Monoculture is seen as a major problem to modern agriculture according to Pollan because it tries to turn something complex into something simple. He discusses the two concepts of biodiversity and monoculture and how they affect modern day agriculture. Pollan discusses many new difficulties that arise from the mass production it provides for everyone. Pollan feels like monoculture is the root problem that many farmers are faced with every year. Monoculture refers to growing the same crop in one area of land. It is seen as the biggest simplification of modern agriculture. The plants are seen as genetically identical because they are all affected by the same thing, such as pesticides. According to Pollan, “Monoculture is at the root of virtually every problem that bedevils the modern farmer, and from which virtually every agricultural product is designed to deliver him” (225). Monoculture requires farmers to adjust their fields to many problems that will arise from their identical plants. All

It makes new problems by trying to mass produce a certain crop in one single area. Pollan explained in The Botany of Desire that, “Every new step in the direction of simplification-toward monoculture- leads to unimagined new complexities” (185). Simplification leads to new complexities because we are trying to simplify something that isn’t that simple. We are ignoring half of the problems that come with monoculture by making it something simple. We chose to see what we want to see, but we do not see the big picture. We short term think in regards to agriculture because we only care about what is happening now. We think about the food that it will produce, but we do not think about all the problems it can cause along the