Michael Pollan expresses, to a point, his concern with the idea that the agriculture company Monsanto wants total control over the agriculture industry in the U.S. As he explains, the genes for the potatoes he’s allowed to grow and sell remains the intellectual property of Monsanto. Being that the way food has been grown is harmful to the farmer (and also to those eating these crops), the modern solution is the genetically engineered plant that can protect from insects and diseases without the help of pesticides. This genetic engineering would give the company control over plants and essentially make Monsanto the Microsoft of agriculture. Pollan goes on to say that “we’re about to find out what happens when people begin approaching the genes of our food plans as software.”

As for props, I think the basic things that would add to the potatoes are silverware (knives, plates, etc.) or potato chips to show one of the ways the potato can be used.