createThe Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World
Forget everything you think you know about organic farming, your relationship to the food chain, nature and evolution. Michael Pollan’s book is an eye opener written with a farmer’s flair for making the complicated simple. In The Botany of Desire, Pollan tracks the human desires for sweetness, beauty, intoxication and control as told from the evolutionary point of view of the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato.
Pollan is able to distill his serious science into an almost folksy romp through some fascinating evolutionary theory. Whether your a devoted gardener or someone who loves to eat this book is a must read for anyone who wants to grasp how plants have manipulated man into serving their best interest.
Pollan manages to demystify the legend of Johnny Appleseed and in the process build him into a even more intriguing legend then the conventional mythology could ever dream up. He illuminates the frenzy and the science behind the Dutch tulip madness and by the time he has worked his way through the recent history of marijuana and fragility of the potato you will look at the food we eat in a whole new light.
But most important. It’s fun to read.
I love this book! I can’t wait to read his most recent book “The Omnivore’s Dilemma.” Pollan writes wonderful articles in the New York Times about our industrial food complex and the impact on our society. And yes he makes it fun to read and easy to understand. This is a must read if you care about what you eat.