Last night I watched The Botany of Desire, a documentary based on the book by Michael Pollan (In Defense of Food & The Omnivore’s Dilemma).  The video travels through the histories of apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes, considering how they metaphorically “manipulate” human desires for sweetness, beauty, intoxication and control.  The basic idea shows how humans are interwoven into nature, not standing outside it.

Based on the book’s title, I wrongly suspected the documentary might be heavy on the philosophical side.  Instead it’s mostly story–interesting historical story–plus science.  They tell the origin locations of each plant and how the plants have evolved over the years due to human desires.  (For example, we like sweet apples & choose to graft more of them.)  They also show the effects of our interaction with these plants.  (For example, not diversifying lessens the plants’ ability to defend against pests, increasing the need for pesticides or perhaps genetic modification).

Anyways, the video is very interesting and I recommend it for anyone fascinated with interactions of plants & people, gardening, and even cooking.  I give it 5 out of 5 stars.  If you have Netflix, it’s one you can watch instantly.