Unrefined

Unrefined: How Sugar Became a Commodity

A surprising look at how modern capitalism changed sugar from a natural food to a scientific commodity.

Sugar is everywhere in the western diet, blamed for epidemics of obesity, diabetes, and other modern maladies. Our addiction to sweetness has a long and unsavory history. Over the past five hundred years, sugar has shaped empires, made fortunes for a few, and brought misery for millions of workers both enslaved and f…