The story of Homo sapiens is often told as a story of technology or economics. But there is a more fundamental driving force: food. How we hunted and gathered explains our emergence as a new species and our earliest technology; our first food systems, from fire to agriculture, explain where we settled and how civilizations expanded. The search for food for ever-growing populations fueled exploration, colonialism, slavery, and even capitalism.

A century ago, food production became industrialized. Since then, new styles of farming and food production have written a new chapter in human history, one that is driving both climate change and global health crises.

Mark Bittman, a leading authority on food and a bestselling author, offers a sweeping overview of this history and explains how we can rescue ourselves from the modern misstep.