Breadfruit: Three Global Journeys of a Bountiful Tree - Paperback

by Russell Fielding (Author)

Breadfruit trees are staples of the tropics, bearing cantaloupe-sized green-skinned fruits whose taste and texture resemble potatoes. More than three thousand years ago, breadfruit fueled the Pacific voyages of discovery that settled islands throughout Oceania. In the late eighteenth century, the British expedition that ended with the mutiny on the Bounty aimed, but failed, to introduce breadfruit to the West Indies as food for enslaved African laborers on sugar plantations. A later voyage resulted in the fruit's widespread distribution and complicated role within modern Caribbean food cultures. In recent years, breadfruit has been touted as a tool for sustainable development and as a "superfood" with both health benefits and culinary versatility.

Author Biography

Russell Fielding is an associate professor in the HTC Honors College and the Spadoni College of Education and Social Sciences at Coastal Carolina University. He is a geographer who studies sustainable food systems in the world's coastal and island settings. Fielding is the author of The Wake of the Whale: Hunter Societies in the Caribbean and North Atlantic (2018).