This excerpt from Michael Pollan's PBS Food Series
In Defense Of Food focuses on the work of the broccoli man — Cornell’s Thomas Bjorkman. Broccoli is one of the the most popular vegetables in the U.S., and a healthy food choice. Almost 90% of the broccoli in the U.S. is grown in California where the climate is pretty ideal for the vegetable year round. What that means for folks on the East Coast though is that the broccoli you are buying in the grocery store is nearly a week old by the time it hits your plate. Bjorkman is trying to breed new varieties that will thrive in eastern climates. His goal: fresher, better-tasting local broccoli that will entice more even people to eat it.