Sugar : The Grass That Changed the World

The story of sugar is a story of life and death. As glucose it's the fuel that drives us. It also causes obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Sugar's rise in popularity led to the global spread of slavery, the destruction of indigenous cultures, the proliferation of colonial economies and the growth of multinationals. Sugar is a part of everyone's daily diet, lusted after and craved, at once a luxury and a necessity. It is produced in 121 countries worldwide and global production exceeds 120 million tonnes annually. We are literally drowning in sugar. In the last decade consumption in the West has increased by a third, American teenagers eat 34 teaspoons of sugar every day.