In Pollan's final section of Cooked, Earth, he discusses the world of which we cannot see with our eyes alone. And he is right, we cannot keep ultra-sanitizing everything or else we may destroy the environment in which we originally and currently thrive in. The human body is quite amazing as I found out last semester in Immunology. After studying a wide array of the body's defense system, I was amazed at how humans even get sick in the first place. I also learned that having natural microbial flora in the body enhances the immune system in terms of recognition of harmful species, therefore when Pollan states on page 300 that the "twentieth-century war on bacteria - with its profligate use of antibiotics...has undermined out heath by wrecking the ecology of our gut," I have to fully agree. Bacteria is important and is involved in numerous processes in the human body (it's also delicious in foods such as cheese) therefore we shouldn't be fighting a war against microbes.
I really enjoyed this reading and the history of alcohol paired with the biochemistry of bacteria and fermentation was very scientifically refreshing and made reading much more interesting. I am curious to see what the class discussion will bring.
You science folks have your stuff together. I do agree that this reading was more interesting than many of our previous selections. The history of alcohol, in my opinion, was the most interesting bit but the scientist in me also enjoyed the information about the biochemistry of bacteria.
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