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The Apple Chapter (*Extra Credit 2*)

The PBS documentary Botany of Desire: The Apple Chapter tells the story of the apple in two sections:
  • The history of the apple
  • The apple today

The History of the Apple

When sweetness was rare in the human diet, apples were a perfect option because they were high in calories and portable. Appealing to mammal, and specifically human, taste was essential in the spread of apples. People, like Johnny Apple Seed in 1774, greatly increased the spread of apples in the New World by purposefully transporting and planting seeds. 

Eventually, apples were originally used to create hard cider. Surprisingly, apples that taste the worst made the best alcohol. By in the 1830's, there was a revolt against alcohol, and the apple tree was vilified. The apple had to adapt, so then sweet apples began to take up almost all of the apple market. This continues today. 

The Apple Today

Farmers are like bees because they are both controlled by plants. But farmers have started to gain an upper hand because of grafting. This has been around since the time of Johnny Apple Seed because it was a way to manipulate the apple and produce a certain taste, but it is widely used today.

Although apples have continued to adapt because sweetness is wired into the human biology, they are having trouble competing against processed sweets- like cookies- beginning in the 1900's. Three kinds of apples have prevailed as the sweetest sorts. But as a result, this has stalled the apple's evolution. A monoculture has been created.

This is problematic because parasites continue to evolve, and apples are increasingly susceptible to being infected. Some farmers have turned towards the past to bring back seeds from Kazakhstan, so they can increase diversity and prevent further parasite domination worldwide.




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