Ripe

I should have posted this awhile ago when were were discussing Pollan in class but recently my grandfather, who follows our class blog, pointed out some very interesting ideas to me on biological pesticides that I don't think were brought up in class. One idea he had was on the ripening of fruit and what it means to both the humans and animals consuming the fruit and to the plant producing the fruit. We all know that fruits(and vegetables) don't taste good when they are not ripe. When an apple is still green it will give us a stomach ache if we eat it. But as soon as the apple is red we know it is good to eat. Ripe, to the plant, means that the seeds inside are ready to be dispersed. The plant produces poisons that cause us not to eat the fruit before it wants to be eaten. This creates a natural balance between us and the plant. Industrial pesticides disrupt this balance. This balance goes against the plants natural defenses that are harmless to both sides, as long as we go along with what the plant is doing for us. Plants and animals coevolve. The industrial pesticides we introduce to the plants have caused extreme harm, even though it is unintended by the humans who put it there in the first place. By not disrupting this balance we allow the natural defenses from both the plants and animals to stay neutral. In my grandfather's words " I've characterized plants as having "wants" and "strategies," but that is only a metaphor. Nature has no intent, no forethought, no planned direction. It is just that what works is preserved. What is natural is not by nature good or bad, beneficial, or malicious. Nature is neutral. Nature is amoral."