Throughline 400 Years of Sweetness
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Dec 8, 2022 From sugar plantations in Haiti to supermarket shelves packed with sweetened foods, trace how sweetness reshaped economies, culture, and everyday life. Meet the powerful corn-industry executive who helped make high-fructose corn syrup a staple, and explore the tangled legacy linking modern diets to centuries of exploitation.
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Reporter Scores Rare Interview With ADM CEO Dwayne Andreas
- Richard Manning unexpectedly got a sit-down with ADM CEO Dwayne Andreas after calling for an interview and being personally invited to ADM's Decatur offices.
- Andreas spoke bluntly about controlling agriculture markets, revealing how one man could sit atop industrial farming's pyramid.
Audit Your Groceries For Hidden Sugar
- Check nutrition labels: processed staples like bread, ketchup, yogurt and granola add substantial hidden sugars to weekly groceries.
- A grocery trip by Anya Steinberg and roommates totaled 1,434 grams of sugar, averaging about 71 grams per person per day.
Sugar Started As Elite Status Symbol
- Sugar began as a luxury status symbol in medieval and early modern Europe, used for edible displays and conspicuous consumption.
- Demand from the wealthy drove European traders to cultivate cane in tropical colonies, linking sugar to global trade and colonization.