American degeneracy is quite a hot topic, especially if you are spewing theories that have no scientific proof. There have been many comparisons between Al Gore and Comte de Buffon, who was a leading French naturalist. In Buffon’s Histoire Naturelle, he basically ripped apart America and said that because it was the last to emerge from the sea, it had weaker land, smaller animals and would never be strong. Interestingly enough, Thomas Jefferson defended our great country and pointed out that his theories do not fully explore all possibilities and just go so far. So, what have we learned from history? Why is or why was the study of plants so important? How did the debate over American Degeneracy affect American garden and landscape outlooks? How come Lincoln thought it important enough in the middle of the Civil War to establish the Department of Agriculture?

In this segment of The Organic View, host, June Stoyer talks to horticultural expert, John Peter Thompson,about this controversy and why we need to pay attention to the environment. Stay tuned!