The story of Homo sapiens is often told as a story of technology or economics. But there is a more fundamental driver: food. How we hunted and gathered explains our emergence as a new species and our most primitive technology, our earliest food systems, from fire to agriculture, explain where we settled and how civilizations expanded. The search for food for growing populations drove exploration, colonialism, slavery and even capitalism. A century ago, food became industrialized. Since then, new styles of agriculture and food production have written a new chapter in human history, which is driving both climate change and global health crises. Mark Bittman, a food authority and bestseller, offers a panoramic view of history and explains how we can rescue ourselves from the modern wrong turn.