Food Purity In The Film 'The Botany Of Desire'
The Fight for Food Purity
Economic Botany
September 29, 2013
Michael Pollan’s film, The Botany of Desire, opened my eyes to the complicated relationship between people and plants. Pollan opened up with the following statement: “Flowers. Trees. Plants. We 've always thought that we controlled them. But what if, in fact, they have been shaping us?” (Pollan, PBS) I paused the film and took a few minutes to let this soak in. I was always under the impression that we were manipulating plants to our benefit only. I never thought that the plants were gaining something as well. The narrator explains, “The Botany of Desire examines this relationship by telling the stories of four plants that ensured their survival …show more content…
Monsanto, a massive agricultural company, introduced this new breed of potato in 1995. This modified potato contained a gene from a soil bacterium that was inserted into the potato’s DNA. This gene helped to kill the Colorado potato beetle without the use of pesticide sprays. Public concern for the New Leaf potato began to grow. Fast food chains such as McDonald’s and Burger King, quietly urged their French-fry suppliers to stop using the genetically modified potato. People didn’t like the idea of eating something that they thought was so unnatural. The New Leaf potato was quickly taken off the market and farmers were forced to stop growing them. This is an excellent example of what can happen when consumers are aware of what they eat. Ingredient lists on the back of most all foods show that the food we eat now contains some type of genetically modified organism. I believe that we must give the public the information they need to truly understand what they are eating. If most people knew what was in their food, they probably wouldn’t eat it. A massive public outcry against unnatural food modification is exactly what we need to stop these biotechnology giants from producing genetically engineered
Economic Botany
September 29, 2013
Michael Pollan’s film, The Botany of Desire, opened my eyes to the complicated relationship between people and plants. Pollan opened up with the following statement: “Flowers. Trees. Plants. We 've always thought that we controlled them. But what if, in fact, they have been shaping us?” (Pollan, PBS) I paused the film and took a few minutes to let this soak in. I was always under the impression that we were manipulating plants to our benefit only. I never thought that the plants were gaining something as well. The narrator explains, “The Botany of Desire examines this relationship by telling the stories of four plants that ensured their survival …show more content…
Monsanto, a massive agricultural company, introduced this new breed of potato in 1995. This modified potato contained a gene from a soil bacterium that was inserted into the potato’s DNA. This gene helped to kill the Colorado potato beetle without the use of pesticide sprays. Public concern for the New Leaf potato began to grow. Fast food chains such as McDonald’s and Burger King, quietly urged their French-fry suppliers to stop using the genetically modified potato. People didn’t like the idea of eating something that they thought was so unnatural. The New Leaf potato was quickly taken off the market and farmers were forced to stop growing them. This is an excellent example of what can happen when consumers are aware of what they eat. Ingredient lists on the back of most all foods show that the food we eat now contains some type of genetically modified organism. I believe that we must give the public the information they need to truly understand what they are eating. If most people knew what was in their food, they probably wouldn’t eat it. A massive public outcry against unnatural food modification is exactly what we need to stop these biotechnology giants from producing genetically engineered