"Almost no one knew what a potato was in 1500. Today they are the world's fourth most important food crop. Feeding the People traces the global journey of this popular foodstuff from the Andes to everywhere. The potato's global history makes visible the ways in which our ideas about eating are entangled with the emergence of capitalism and its celebration of the free market. The potato's story also reminds us that ordinary people make history in ways that continue to shape our lives. Potatoes, in short, are a good way of rethinking the origins of our modern world. Feeding the People tells the story of how eating became part of statecraft, and provides a new account of the global spread of one of the world's most important foods"-- Provided by publisher.