Chapter Two through Chapter Four Summary and Analysis

In chapter two, Pollan visits the farm of George Naylor, a man in Iowa who grown corn and soybeans. Naylor's farm has been handed down through several generations, and it has changed drastically, going from a fully sufficient diverse farm to a corn production mecca. Pollan explains this by discussing the various types of corn being grown today. Naylor himself avoids GMOs—or genetically modified organisms—but much of the corn planting population today relies solely on it for higher yields. Pollen gives the history of corn growing, discussing how the increased planting of corn has meant a drop is crop space for other plants. He also notes that the push for corn has led to the industrialization of animal farms. As a result, then, farms have largely been given over...