Essential for anyone interested in how the politics of food intersects with histories of coloniality, race, development, and nation. Thoughtful and nuanced, this is the kind of anthropology we need.--María Elena García, author of Gastropolitics and the Specter of Race: Stories of Capital, Culture, and Coloniality in Peru This is not your typical commodity story that leaves you feeling guilty for enjoying an exotic food. Instead, with both insightful and readable prose, McDonell deftly delivers a more trenchant message: there are no simple solutions to highly complicated ills.--Julie Guthman, author of The Problem with Solutions: Why Silicon Valley Can't Hack the Future of Food With rich ethnographic detail, McDonell's compelling story and insightful analysis offer a new way of thinking about the hopes, dreams, and disappointments that fuel capitalism.--Edward F. Fischer, author of Making Better Coffee: How Maya Farmers and Third Wave Tastemakers Create Value