Meet the Most Famous American You’ve Never Heard Of: His Legacy is Excellent French Fries and Monsanto

Gastropod

Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley

Science, Food, History, Arts

4.7 • 3.5K Ratings

🗓️ 30 April 2024

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In his day, Luther Burbank was a horticultural rock star: everyone from opera singers to movie stars and European royalty to an Indian guru traveled to Santa Rosa, California, to meet him. Dubbed the "plant wizard," Burbank invented the plumcot and the stoneless plum, the white blackberry, and the potato variety used in every French fry you've ever eaten—as well as some 800 more new-and-improved plants, from walnuts to rhubarb. His fame as a plant inventor put him in the same league as Thomas Edison—but, while Edison patented his light bulb and phonograph, Burbank had no legal way to protect his crop creations. Listen now for the story of Luther Burbank, the most famous American you've never heard of, and how his struggles shaped what's on our supermarket shelves today, but also led to a world in which big companies like Monsanto can patent life. It's a wild ride that involves the death spiral of the Red Delicious and the rise of the Cosmic Crisp apple, as well as coded notebooks, detective agencies, rogue farmers, and a resistance movement led by former New York City mayor (and subsequent airport namesake) Fiorello La Guardia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	In many areas he became a figure of reverence bordering on worship. His
0:07.2	portrait became as familiar as that of any American president. He was the
0:11.5	subject of inspired sermons in churches throughout the land.
0:15.0	I'm sorry, who are we talking about here?
0:18.0	In the city of Santa Rosa, California, there is a beautiful garden that has become a national historic monument.
0:24.0	To many who come from all over the world to visit here, it is also something of a shrine,
0:30.0	for it perpetuates the memory of a most remarkable man
0:34.0	Luther Burbank.
0:35.9	It was here that he lived and worked the horticultural wonders that astounded the world of his time
0:41.9	and earned him the name the Plant Wizard.
0:44.0	Yeah, nope, still had no idea who this Luther Burbank was,
0:47.0	aka the Plant Wizard,
0:49.0	until we started making this episode.
0:51.0	We, of course, are Gaster Pod, the podcast that looks at food
0:53.4	through the lens of science and history. I'm Cynthia Graber.
0:55.8	And I'm Nicola Twilly and this episode we've got the story of a forgotten
1:00.4	hero whose creative genius lies behind many of your favorite fruits and vegetables, including every French fry you've ever eaten.
1:09.0	He was literally one of the most famous Americans of his time and his claim to fame was plants.
1:15.0	But what's also important about Luther Burbank is he was a plant inventor who couldn't
1:18.8	patent his inventions and his frustration with that led to a world in which Monsanto can patent the very seeds farmers need to grow food and sue the farmers who grow it by accident.
1:28.0	This episode we explore what it means to patent life, not just pizza, and how it shapes the food we eat, for better, and for worse.
1:37.0	This episode is sponsored in part by the Alfred Peace Loan Foundation for the public understanding of science technology and economics,
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