Michael Pollan

course when it comes to food, culture is another word for mom, the figure who typically passes on the food ways of the group—food ways that endured, by the way, only because they tended to keep people healthy.

Scientists recently discovered a handful of species that produce caffeine in their nectar, which is the last place you would expect a plant to serve up a poisonous beverage. These plants have discovered that they can attract pollinators by offering them a small shot of caffeine; even better, that caffeine has been shown to sharpen the memories of bees, making them more faithful, efficient, and hardworking pollinators. Pretty much what caffeine does for us.