Honors Reading Assignment 1

I chose to read The Omnivores Dilemma by Michael Pollan for my honors assignment.


Michael Pollan was born on Long Island, New York. He recieved his B.A. in English at Bennington College and his M.A. in English at Columbia University. He has written 6 books total, and three of them: Second Nature, A Place of My Own, and The Botany of Desire were New York Times bestsellers received book of the year by Borders, Amazon, and the American Booksellers Association. His books have a common theme of health choices, and nutrition in the American diet. The purpose of this is enlighten American's of the health risk they face everyday, and the more ecological/health beneficial choices we can make at the dinner table. Therefore, I do believe he posses the credentials to inform the reader about these topics. Michael Pollan writes for the New York Times Magazine. He currently teaches journalism at the University of California-Berkley.

Photosynthesis Review Questions

1.) In the two weeks the plants didn't get watered, they weren't able to properly photosynthesize. They need water, carbon dioxide, and sunlight in order to successfully photosynthesize. Its similar to humans only getting food and no water. We wouldn't die right away, but without water, there isn't much hope. Without water, the light dependent cycle cannot function correctly, therefore the plant cannot create its own food. Which is a problem because plants are autotrophs, so they have to create their own food.

2.) If the stomata is closed, that would cause problems for the plant. The stomata closes when the plants need to conserve the H20, 02, and CO2 inside of the plant. However the problem with the stomata closing is that it doesn't allow anything in or out of the plant. So basically none of the C02 needed for photosynthesis can't get inside, which will stop the Calvin Cycle(light independent cycle).

Collecting, Saving, and Storing Seeds

The issue that the video and articles presented were that we need a safe haven for plant seeds that can avoid disasters such as war, natural, or political problems. Their solution was to set up a underground seed vault on an island in the the Arctic Ocean. I believe that this was a logical decision by the companies that run the vault. Having a the vault remote will therefore protect it from warfare, most natural disasters, and political problems.

The vault is protected from warfare because its location is on an island remote from other nations, therefore no country should have issues on its territory. Also they took the precautions of making the door to the vault bomb-proof, thus protecting it further from people with negative intentions.
(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/world/europe/29seeds.html)

Secondly, the vault is protected from most natural disasters because its on a geographically remote area, so there aren't common disasters such as tornadoes, tsunamis, etc. Also its under a mountain, so it has the mountain as extra support. For precautions, they also designed it to withstand earthquakes.
(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/world/europe/29seeds.html)

Lastly, I believe that this was a good idea is because no one owns this area. Therefore they won't have to deal with political/military interference. No one person knows the whole entrance code, this protects the vault from greedy intentions from outside forces. Also, its located in a cold region of the world, so if there are power outages, the seeds can still be safely stored in their frozen temperatures.

So in conclusion, I believe that the Global Seed Vault is a great idea, and has been planned carefully. It seems that they took time to consider the pros and cons of the vault. So it seems that the pros outweigh the cons, and this would be equally beneficial for soon-to-be extinct plants, and in case of climate change disasters.

Plant Research

Ching Chang Bok Choy:
Ching Chang Bok Choy is a Chinese cabbage. It has an annual life cycle, and usually takes about 7 days to germinate after last frost date, transport after 16, and then 70 days to mature. It grows about 25cm wide and 10cm wide. It requires a high amount of water and moist soil with a pH of 6.1-7.8. The sowing depth is about 1cm deep, and a spacing of about 25cm.


Flash Collards
Cultivate the soil deeply because they can grow up to 2 feet deep. Plant rows 8 inches high and 3 feet apart. Cover the seeds with 1/2 inch of soil. Keep soil moist until germination, which happens between 6-12 days. Water evenly, give 1.5 inches of water every 7-10 days. Cut leaves when they are about 12 inches tall.

Violetta Pak Choi/ Bok Choy
This type of leafy green (in this case violet) veg. is actually in the mustard family. This crop is best grown in early August, late June if you want to be able to harvest it buy late Fall. Plant rows should be about 20-30 inches apart. Each seed should be planted 1/4 of an inch deep, for every foot there should be close to 15 seeds. Because Pak Choi have shallow root they do not need lot of watering, regular watering is needed but do not drench. If a rapid growth is wanted the soil need to be nutrient rich and a fine layer of blood meal right under the seeds provides the extra humph (O.O), nitrogen and more nutrition. When ready to harvest the plant should be about 4-13 cm in height, when harvesting cut as desired but do not remove entire plant.