Many people thrive on technological advancements "it's how we as humans evolve. Because of the technology that we have access to today, we are able to develop more and more things (better things) as time progresses. Our advancements are what make us the highly developed beings that we like to think of ourselves as today. In Michael Pollan's essay, "Playing God in the Garden,"" he talks about genetic engineering and the development of the "New Leaf Superior,"" a potato that produces it's own insecticide. This helps farmers out a great deal, because they no longer have to waste their money on a large amount of crops, many of which will be damaged by insects or rodents. Instead, when an insect takes even the smallest bite of these potatoes, it will "supposedly keel over and die- (Pollan 506), saving the plant from being harmed in any way. In Stephen Jay Gould's essay, "What Does the Dreaded E' Word Mean Anyway?- he talks about the meaning of evolution. The true meaning of the word evolution, as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary is "the sequential exposure of prepackaged potential- (Gould 324). This goes hand-in-hand with the development of the New Leaf potato, since this is a huge technological advancement. Humans work hard to try to build upon things that have been done in the past. By creating the New Leaf potato, they are not only advancing technologically, but they are advancing in evolutionary ways as well. .
Although these New Leaf potatoes are called "frankenplants- (Pollan 507), by their protestors, the thing that people fail to realize is that they have already consumed genetically engineered potatoes and other crops, and they don't even know it. They could be in the French fries that millions of people consume each day "at McDonald's or in a bag of Frito Lay chips- (Pollan 521). What Pollan is saying is that we have no choice of whether or not to eat these potatoes because there's no way of telling whether or not they are in the foods that people eat every day.