Olivia Misner September 12, 2013

Botany Extra Credit

Not all fields of botany are interesting to me because in all honesty not much about plants sparks my interest. I found one field that I was able to relate to an interest of mine and that field is Plant Biochemistry. My ultimate goal in life is to pursue a career in the health field and the chemistry of plants plays a big role in that. There is more than one reason that I am interested in this field. Not only can I relate it to the biochemistry of a human and how their life works, but a vast amount of medicines that are made for humans involve some aspect of a plants biochemistry. Ten major plants that are used for medicines are coca, daffodil, deadly nightshade, english yew, fever tree, fox glove, opium poppy, rubber tree, and one of the best know ones is the willow used for aspirin. Without naming any specific farms locally, Lancaster is ranked fourth in the country for the number of farms we have. According to Lancaster Farmland Trust Lancaster country alone has approximately six thousand farms averaging in size of 78 acres. This means that over 68% of Lancaster County is using some type of plant biochemistry. One local place that would be a prime example of putting plant biochemistry to use is Cherry Hill Orchards and Outlet. Cherry Hill is not some seasonal farm where they only stay open for a couple of months, they grow different crops all year long. They start out their season with forty different Varieties of Apples, then moving onto the twenty five Varieties of Sweet and Tart Cherries, twenty five Varieties of Peaches, as well as Nectarines, Plums, Apricots, and finishing up the season with Sweet Corn and Pumpkins. Plant biochemistry plays a big role in not only our community but in the economy as well. A large portion of food that American’s take in is produced by farming, whether it’s a crop of corn, a field of pumpkins, or an orchard of apples. All of it is being farmed and biochemically maintained in some way. In Lancaster County alone, at a quick glance, there is at least 10 farmers market’s that are open to the public. Farmers markets are not only in Lancaster County but they are nationwide and the products sold at these events are what is effecting the community and economy. American’s are taking in all of these nutrients put off by the food that is farmed and if it was not for the farmers and their families understanding the rotation of crops and the