thank you and good afternoon this brown
shriveled thing it’s an apple
it is a sad looking Apple but it’s still
an apple and here we have a grape vine
it’s seen better days
for sure here is potato certainly not
the type that you’d want to bake and eat
I’m sure this is a banana tree and it’s
on its last leg the thing that these
plants have in common is that they are
ill and this is a problem for us because
a threat to plant life is a very real
threat to human life when a plant
becomes ill it’s functions are impaired
much like a human’s except instead of a
rash or a fever its roots might not be
able to sufficiently draw water from the
ground or its leaves might wilt and
Brown unable to synthesize the
chlorophyll needed to sustain its life
now the culprit might be an insect or a
fungus or a bacterium but regardless if
the disease is severe enough the plant
will die and this can be devastating
because stress on plant populations can
spell disaster for human ones now a
caveat I am not a biologist I’m not a
scientist or a botanist but I am a food
historian by training and I’d like to
share a number of historical examples of
the types of ecological consequences
brought on by plant disease what we may
call blight and see what we might learn
from them so let’s begin here in New
Jersey with the gypsy moth some of you
might be familiar with this insect and
it’s law
form here we are a fuzzy caterpillar
with a voracious appetite for leaves now
the gypsy moth was introduced
accidentally to the United States in the
1860s within about a decade outbreaks
began and the federal and state
governments were quick to recognize that
it was a problem it began around Boston
and spread quickly and despite the
efforts of the government it wasn’t
possible to eradicate and the current
range is the entire northeast of America
in 1981 thirteen million acres of forest
including many orchards were D foliated
devastated what does 13 million acres
look like it’s the area highlighted in
red absolutely remarkable
another example bananas this is the
banana that you’re probably all familiar
with it’s a variety that we all eat it’s
called Cavendish now our grandparents
and great-grandparents wouldn’t have
been familiar with this they were more
accustomed to enjoying a variety that
looked similar but some say tasted a lot
better called gros Michelle what
happened why aren’t we eating the same
bananas that our grandparents and
great-grandparents had well in the 1950s
a blight called Panama disease a fungus
struck in Central America and growers
and exporters of bananas sought to find
a solution so they replaced a grow
Michelle with Cavendish however this was
not the best idea it was like putting a
band-aid on a bullet wound a temporary
solution because nowadays a new strain
of Panama disease is attacking Cavendish
such that our children or grandchildren
might not know it this unassuming little
bug by the common name Falak szura
almost eradicated
a plant called vidis vinifera now you
might not be familiar with its
scientific name but I assure you most of
you know it’s a common parlance it is
the grapevine responsible for the
world’s fine wines the Cabernet is the
Merlot’s the Chardonnay is when this bug
infested European vineyards in the late
19th century French wine production in a
period of 20 years declined by 73% now
imagine that a world without wine
stop don’t imagine that joking aside
even if you aren’t a fan of trees you
don’t like bananas and you don’t drink
wine let me provide one last example
that might open you up to the fact that
a blight has a really true impact on
humans 1845 to 1852 the great famine of
Ireland decimates the population the
proximate cause is a water mould that
destroys and kills potato plants 1
million people died 1 million people
emigrated the remarkable fact is that
the population of Ireland today is still
lower than it was in 1840 so how did we
get here what happened well relative to
geological time that is the history of
the planet Earth disease and plants were
in relative equal aaja chol equilibrium
and the fact is that it wasn’t so much a
problem however in the last 500 years
something changed what was it what
tipped the balance of the scales in
favor of disease that made it spread
more quickly and with greater intensity
well it’s us humans Homo sapiens we are
a problem in a way and we’re not all
that great for plants allow me to
explain
three particular human triggered events
really set the stage for the prevalence
of light to get worse
first Columbus discovered America
oh he’s not having a good day in
connecting continents in bringing
together north and south america with
europe and africa and asia he
effectively Shrunk the world the planet
became a smaller place next the 19th and
20th century saw a flurry of innovations
which sped up the speed of travel
technology essentially collapsed time
and third even though humans have been
agricultural beings for approximately
12,000 years it really wasn’t until the
last hundred or so which we perfected
the art of efficient agriculture however
this had its cost and reduced
biodiversity now let me explain a little
further here we have Columbus and in
making the world a smaller place he
brought in contact numbers of species
that hadn’t necessarily co-evolved
plants and animals that had been
separated for millennia had all of a
sudden come in contact with one another
and hadn’t necessarily gained immunity
or resistance to invasive or foreign
species further the advent of the steam
engine in the 19th century followed by
the combustion engine collapsed time now
in 1620 it took the Mayflower
approximately more than two months to
cross the Atlantic to go from Plymouth
England to Cape Cod
by the 1850s the steamship the average
trout transatlantic voyage took about
two weeks time served as a natural
barrier to the spread of foreign
biological matter the rise of blight in
the form of potato blight or wine blight
came about because people move more
quickly whether we want to or not when
we travel we bring luggage with us
intended or otherwise in the 19th
century saw this natural firewall
demolished now we get to modern
agriculture a true phenomena however
modern agriculture has reduced
biodiversity by dedicating more land to
fewer species in the drive to grow some
plants better we ultimately grow fewer
plants now the efficiency of modern
agriculture is truly astounding between
1920 and 1950 global agricultural output
doubled again between 1950 and 1965 and
yet again it doubled between 1965 and
1975 but it had cost more land had to be
dedicated to growing fewer species
monoculture was increased and selective
breeding meant again that we grew fewer
species of plants with fewer species
available the likelihood that disease
would spread amongst the species that
remained was greater so then what do we
do if we recognize there’s a problem and
the problem is us from a plants
perspective we are the weedy species we
are unwanted and we are instructed
destructive so what actions can we take
to undo or prevent some of the harm
we’ve done as a species to plants well
first we can follow the rules now
if today is the first time that this
problem has been made explicit to you
rest assured people have been aware of
it for quite some time and we’re working
on it
the United Nations in 1951 passed the
International Plant Protection
convention precisely to give
government’s guidelines to allow for
quarantines and restrictions there are
rules now that govern the transportation
of biological matter so I urge that when
you go on vacation to obey quarantine
restrictions the pieces of paper you
receive on airplanes that you know
normally toss out actually read them
second we can celebrate biodiversity now
how can we do this we can simply shop
differently not necessarily for
different foods but different types of
plants today more than 90% of our
caloric intake and protein comes from an
astonishingly small amount of species
just 15 different types of plants and
eight types of animals wheat rice and
corn account for more than 50% of global
plant caloric intake that is incredible
we need to do better for ourselves and
for plants so next time you go shopping
try some something new buy an heirloom
variety of a favorite food go to the
farmers market try different food avoid
buying generically named fruits or
vegetables as these tend to be the ones
propagated on industrial farms finally
we need to work with nature the past is
instructive though we have fungicides
and pesticides galore if we open our
eyes and our minds the solution can
sometimes be right in front of us the
past is instructive if we look to the
wind light of the late 19th century how
was the scourge of Falak Sarah defeated
quite simply botanist discovered that if
you connected the top
of a vulnerable European vine like
Merlot to a Hardy resistant root stock
from America the problem would be solved
and wine indeed was saved by this simple
and elegant solution to a terrifying and
worrisome problem no wine so again I
urge you to follow the rules
celebrate biodiversity and work with
nature these are good ideas for people
but more their great ideas for plants
thank you
[Applause]
shriveled thing it’s an apple
it is a sad looking Apple but it’s still
an apple and here we have a grape vine
it’s seen better days
for sure here is potato certainly not
the type that you’d want to bake and eat
I’m sure this is a banana tree and it’s
on its last leg the thing that these
plants have in common is that they are
ill and this is a problem for us because
a threat to plant life is a very real
threat to human life when a plant
becomes ill it’s functions are impaired
much like a human’s except instead of a
rash or a fever its roots might not be
able to sufficiently draw water from the
ground or its leaves might wilt and
Brown unable to synthesize the
chlorophyll needed to sustain its life
now the culprit might be an insect or a
fungus or a bacterium but regardless if
the disease is severe enough the plant
will die and this can be devastating
because stress on plant populations can
spell disaster for human ones now a
caveat I am not a biologist I’m not a
scientist or a botanist but I am a food
historian by training and I’d like to
share a number of historical examples of
the types of ecological consequences
brought on by plant disease what we may
call blight and see what we might learn
from them so let’s begin here in New
Jersey with the gypsy moth some of you
might be familiar with this insect and
it’s law
form here we are a fuzzy caterpillar
with a voracious appetite for leaves now
the gypsy moth was introduced
accidentally to the United States in the
1860s within about a decade outbreaks
began and the federal and state
governments were quick to recognize that
it was a problem it began around Boston
and spread quickly and despite the
efforts of the government it wasn’t
possible to eradicate and the current
range is the entire northeast of America
in 1981 thirteen million acres of forest
including many orchards were D foliated
devastated what does 13 million acres
look like it’s the area highlighted in
red absolutely remarkable
another example bananas this is the
banana that you’re probably all familiar
with it’s a variety that we all eat it’s
called Cavendish now our grandparents
and great-grandparents wouldn’t have
been familiar with this they were more
accustomed to enjoying a variety that
looked similar but some say tasted a lot
better called gros Michelle what
happened why aren’t we eating the same
bananas that our grandparents and
great-grandparents had well in the 1950s
a blight called Panama disease a fungus
struck in Central America and growers
and exporters of bananas sought to find
a solution so they replaced a grow
Michelle with Cavendish however this was
not the best idea it was like putting a
band-aid on a bullet wound a temporary
solution because nowadays a new strain
of Panama disease is attacking Cavendish
such that our children or grandchildren
might not know it this unassuming little
bug by the common name Falak szura
almost eradicated
a plant called vidis vinifera now you
might not be familiar with its
scientific name but I assure you most of
you know it’s a common parlance it is
the grapevine responsible for the
world’s fine wines the Cabernet is the
Merlot’s the Chardonnay is when this bug
infested European vineyards in the late
19th century French wine production in a
period of 20 years declined by 73% now
imagine that a world without wine
stop don’t imagine that joking aside
even if you aren’t a fan of trees you
don’t like bananas and you don’t drink
wine let me provide one last example
that might open you up to the fact that
a blight has a really true impact on
humans 1845 to 1852 the great famine of
Ireland decimates the population the
proximate cause is a water mould that
destroys and kills potato plants 1
million people died 1 million people
emigrated the remarkable fact is that
the population of Ireland today is still
lower than it was in 1840 so how did we
get here what happened well relative to
geological time that is the history of
the planet Earth disease and plants were
in relative equal aaja chol equilibrium
and the fact is that it wasn’t so much a
problem however in the last 500 years
something changed what was it what
tipped the balance of the scales in
favor of disease that made it spread
more quickly and with greater intensity
well it’s us humans Homo sapiens we are
a problem in a way and we’re not all
that great for plants allow me to
explain
three particular human triggered events
really set the stage for the prevalence
of light to get worse
first Columbus discovered America
oh he’s not having a good day in
connecting continents in bringing
together north and south america with
europe and africa and asia he
effectively Shrunk the world the planet
became a smaller place next the 19th and
20th century saw a flurry of innovations
which sped up the speed of travel
technology essentially collapsed time
and third even though humans have been
agricultural beings for approximately
12,000 years it really wasn’t until the
last hundred or so which we perfected
the art of efficient agriculture however
this had its cost and reduced
biodiversity now let me explain a little
further here we have Columbus and in
making the world a smaller place he
brought in contact numbers of species
that hadn’t necessarily co-evolved
plants and animals that had been
separated for millennia had all of a
sudden come in contact with one another
and hadn’t necessarily gained immunity
or resistance to invasive or foreign
species further the advent of the steam
engine in the 19th century followed by
the combustion engine collapsed time now
in 1620 it took the Mayflower
approximately more than two months to
cross the Atlantic to go from Plymouth
England to Cape Cod
by the 1850s the steamship the average
trout transatlantic voyage took about
two weeks time served as a natural
barrier to the spread of foreign
biological matter the rise of blight in
the form of potato blight or wine blight
came about because people move more
quickly whether we want to or not when
we travel we bring luggage with us
intended or otherwise in the 19th
century saw this natural firewall
demolished now we get to modern
agriculture a true phenomena however
modern agriculture has reduced
biodiversity by dedicating more land to
fewer species in the drive to grow some
plants better we ultimately grow fewer
plants now the efficiency of modern
agriculture is truly astounding between
1920 and 1950 global agricultural output
doubled again between 1950 and 1965 and
yet again it doubled between 1965 and
1975 but it had cost more land had to be
dedicated to growing fewer species
monoculture was increased and selective
breeding meant again that we grew fewer
species of plants with fewer species
available the likelihood that disease
would spread amongst the species that
remained was greater so then what do we
do if we recognize there’s a problem and
the problem is us from a plants
perspective we are the weedy species we
are unwanted and we are instructed
destructive so what actions can we take
to undo or prevent some of the harm
we’ve done as a species to plants well
first we can follow the rules now
if today is the first time that this
problem has been made explicit to you
rest assured people have been aware of
it for quite some time and we’re working
on it
the United Nations in 1951 passed the
International Plant Protection
convention precisely to give
government’s guidelines to allow for
quarantines and restrictions there are
rules now that govern the transportation
of biological matter so I urge that when
you go on vacation to obey quarantine
restrictions the pieces of paper you
receive on airplanes that you know
normally toss out actually read them
second we can celebrate biodiversity now
how can we do this we can simply shop
differently not necessarily for
different foods but different types of
plants today more than 90% of our
caloric intake and protein comes from an
astonishingly small amount of species
just 15 different types of plants and
eight types of animals wheat rice and
corn account for more than 50% of global
plant caloric intake that is incredible
we need to do better for ourselves and
for plants so next time you go shopping
try some something new buy an heirloom
variety of a favorite food go to the
farmers market try different food avoid
buying generically named fruits or
vegetables as these tend to be the ones
propagated on industrial farms finally
we need to work with nature the past is
instructive though we have fungicides
and pesticides galore if we open our
eyes and our minds the solution can
sometimes be right in front of us the
past is instructive if we look to the
wind light of the late 19th century how
was the scourge of Falak Sarah defeated
quite simply botanist discovered that if
you connected the top
of a vulnerable European vine like
Merlot to a Hardy resistant root stock
from America the problem would be solved
and wine indeed was saved by this simple
and elegant solution to a terrifying and
worrisome problem no wine so again I
urge you to follow the rules
celebrate biodiversity and work with
nature these are good ideas for people
but more their great ideas for plants
thank you
[Applause]
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