Essay about Esrm the Botany of Desire - 2013 Words

1/30/2011 The Botany of Desire | By Michael Pollan | ESRM 100 | The Relationship Of Humans and Plants | Review of The Botany of Desire – By Michael Pollan 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 and presents the argument that the four plants- Apples, Tulips, Marijuana and the Potato have shaped human evolution just like we shaped theirs. He calls it â€Å"co-evolution†. Nature plays a part in controlling us. It is what the plants know about our desires that made them grow, survive and spread around the world until†¦show more content†¦Potato cultivation has become a major crop for many American farmers and nearly all potato farmers raise the monoculture Russet Burbank. Due to their nature of being non fungus and non disease resistant, they are heavily chemical dependent. â€Å"Organic† is an alternative farming technique presented in the book. Large varieties of cultivars are grown and insects are not eliminat ed while using organic methods of farming. Yet, using organic farming requires on a lot of labor, and the product is somewhat limited to certain market. The author suggests that modern America monoculture in potato farming may collapse in its agricultural methods, just like what happened with the Irish Potato Famine. The main point is while the European history of potato cultivation through agriculture demonstrates political control, the transgenic NewLeaf demonstrates human desire to control life. The author particularly and uniquely writes through the eyes of the plants and, in doing so, lets us see from a different perspective. This book is written with a very personal touch and passion for nature. The wisdom of gardening explains why we grow certain types of apples, tulips, use marijuana, and why we doubt eating genetically-engineered potatoes, yet, within the context of human-plant relationship, it brings the uniqueness out of this book. One main theme from the book is that humans have manipulated plants in agriculture and cultivation throughout history. Humans