ABSTRACT
Mainstream environmental risk assessment recognizes a large category of potential hazards that can be associated with the cultivation of plants including impacts on biodiversity, food safety and unintended impacts on water and even micro-climates. Recent literature on ecosystem services acknowledges that both cultivated and uncultivated ecosystems can be crucial for generating or providing cultural goods, such as a sense of place, a cultural identity and social capital associated with community solidarity. This chapter will argue that accommodating the cultural significance of plants within a risk assessment and public engagement framework may require scientists and policy makers to revise their views on the ontology of plants themselves.
