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honestly, ignorance is bliss
Jan. 16th, 2008 03:21 pmApparently, I just cannot shut up about Michael Pollan.
The chapter on potatoes is not just another riff on "we think we control the agriculture, but really the agriculture is manipulating us for its own benefit," which basically defined the last three chapters (there's a really fascinating Johnny Appleseed bit in the apple chapter). In contrast, the potato chapter can be summed up as "we control the agriculture, sort of, but we don't really know what we're doing."
( cut for potato rambling and brief ?! re: genetic engineering )
Lesson: our desire for mass-produced consistency can result in our making really weird compromises with nature. This may or may not be good for us in the long run; whichever way, we're stuck with it. Really, I already learned this from Omnivore's Dilemma during the segments about corn and cows (and those poor, poor pigs). Now I can worry about potatoes too.
The chapter on potatoes is not just another riff on "we think we control the agriculture, but really the agriculture is manipulating us for its own benefit," which basically defined the last three chapters (there's a really fascinating Johnny Appleseed bit in the apple chapter). In contrast, the potato chapter can be summed up as "we control the agriculture, sort of, but we don't really know what we're doing."
( cut for potato rambling and brief ?! re: genetic engineering )
Lesson: our desire for mass-produced consistency can result in our making really weird compromises with nature. This may or may not be good for us in the long run; whichever way, we're stuck with it. Really, I already learned this from Omnivore's Dilemma during the segments about corn and cows (and those poor, poor pigs). Now I can worry about potatoes too.
