Michael Schwarz, The Botany of Desire, PBS, 2009

Rating: 4/5 Buy

• Original air date: October 28, 2009.
• Running time: 120 minutes.
• Featuring Michael Pollan and based on his best-selling book of the same name.
• Narrated by Frances McDormand.
• How four familiar plant species — the apple, the tulip, marijuana and the potato — evolved to satisfy our yearnings for sweetness, beauty, intoxication and control.

• The Botany of Desire (2009)
• PBS: The Botany of Desire

American Eats, History Channel, 2006

Rating: 4/5 Buy

• Original air date: June 29, 2006 – November 23, 2006 (15 episodes).
• Running time: 50 minutes each.
• Each episode details the particular foods’ origins, key innovators, history, and evolution into modern cuisine. The series is subtitled “The Food That Built America” due to its reverence for food’s place in American history and its impact on culture.
• Episodes Listing:

1. Soda
2. Salty Snacks
3. Hotdogs
4. Canned Foods
5. History on a Bun
6. Ice Cream
7. Cookies
8. Chocolate
9. Condiments
10. Barbecue
11. Beer
12. Cereal: History in a Bowl
13. Pizza
14. Holiday Foods
15. More American Eats

• American Eats (2006)