Grasses explores and explains the history of our relationship with these humble yet vital plants since the end of the last Ice Age to the present day. To feed ourselves we will be more dependent on grasses than ever before. It is predicted that by 2050 the worldand#8217 s population will be approximately nine billion, and 90 per cent of the planetand#8217 s land area will be affected by human activities.
Almost all of us at some point play on, relax on, plant, tend, or harvest grasses for our own pleasure or sustenance yet for all that their importance to us is not commonly understood. Grasses cover approximately one quarter of the planetand#8217 s land surface four speciesand#151 wheat, rice, maize, and sugarand#151 provide 60 per cent of human calorie intake. Providing an impressive exploration of the profound impact these plants have on our survival and our pleasure, this well-illustrated book is a must have for gardeners, foodies, and environmentalists. Harris describes this symbiotic connection against the background of climate change, contending that humans must find a way to balance their need for grass as food, as living space, and potentially even as fuel. In this book, Stephen Harris explains the history of our relationship with these vital plants from the end of the last Ice Age to the present day.Ĭombining biology, sociology, and cultural history,and#160 Grassesand#160 explores how these staple crops bear the mark of human influence more visibly than any other plant and how we, in turn, are motivated to protect green space such as public parks. Indeed, grasses include four speciesand#151 wheat, rice, maize, and sugarand#151 that provide sixty percent of human calorie intake, and we become more and more dependent on these as the worldand#8217 s population increases. Most people have memories of playing on well-manicured lawns or running across the flat green surface of a local park, but we often donand#8217 t think of grasses as something we consume.
0 kommentar(er)
