Big Sugar: The Other White Powder peels back the shiny facade of an everyday staple to reveal a history marked by exploitation, political intrigue, and global impact. From sugar’s beginnings as a rare delicacy in Southeast Asia to its role in shaping empires, economies, and entire societies, this book explores how a simple sweetener fueled colonial expansion, financed wars, and entrenched forced labor. Underneath the innocent sparkle lie stories of enslaved Africans transported across the Atlantic, ongoing environmental devastation from industrial cane fields, and modern lobbying efforts that keep prices artificially high.

Dr. Donald Elton, a Pulmonary and Critical Care physician in Central Florida with a deep interest in the history of the Americas, offers an unflinching look at sugar’s transformation into a powerful global commodity. He outlines how European powers—later followed by the United States—maneuvered for control, forging policies and trade networks that reverberate even now. He also sheds light on workers’ lives in Florida’s Everglades, Louisiana’s refineries, and the Dominican Republic’s bateyes, where conditions can be as harsh today as they were centuries ago.

Yet the book goes beyond exposing problems. It highlights practical reforms, from sugar taxes and labeling requirements to emerging alternatives like stevia and lab-grown sweeteners. Ultimately, Big Sugar urges listeners to question the real costs of each spoonful—costs that extend well beyond the checkout aisle and deep into the global economy, human rights, and environmental sustainability.