How did breadfruit, a starchy food of the Pacific, become a staple of Caribbean cuisine? Russell Fielding details the botanical, cultural, and political history of breadfruit’s dispersal throughout Oceania by ancestors of today’s Pacific Islanders and its transplantation to the Caribbean by British colonialists to feed enslaved people on their plantations. Along the way, we’ll learn about how Voltaire influenced the development of breadfruit in the Caribbean.
While breadfruit’s legacy is still being understood in the Caribbean, it is being hailed as a “superfood” by people focused on plant-based nutrition and held up as a tool for sustainable development by organizations fighting climate change and world hunger.
Fielding’s story contains many first-hand accounts of how breadfruit is used by people around the world today and ties together themes of tropical horticulture, Indigenous knowledge, colonial food and economic systems, and contemporary efforts toward nutrition and sustainability.
Russell Fielding is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Geography at Coastal Carolina University. He is the author of Breadfruit: Three Global Journeys of a Bountiful Tree (November 2025, Columbia University Press)
6:30: Sign in to Zoom
6:40 Presentation followed by general Q & A
The program is free to members, although advance registration is required