Globalization Of Sugar

Humans have fought through both social and ecological challenges as they have developed into the beings they are today, with critical lifestyle alterations. These lifestyle changes, which Hans Selye would term as due to the General Adaptation Syndrome, or the development of the stress response, have created the “stressed” individual. Where humans have once fought to survive as hunter-gatherers in the past, it can be argued that humans are now striving to succeed, in the sense that there is some hierarchy to dominate, causing individuals to handle more responsibilities and become goal-oriented, or rather “stressed.” Alongside the rise of the stress concept, the globalization of sugar can be seen as both a physiological and economic stimulant.

The British have records of their historical uses of sugar; but sugar, as a raw material in the form of cane sugar, originated from New Guinea and Indonesia, which spread through the process of globalization. As a standalone substance, sugar could provide a hefty amount of calories for an individual’s dietary intake, but historically, at least by 1700, sugar has been used in a wide variety of ways, including: medicine, alcohol, preservation, and, most importantly, as a sweetener for other stimulants like tea, coffee, and chocolate. The combination of caffeine and sugar further stimulates the body physiologically, as opposed to consuming unsweetened tea or coffee. Not only was sugar used in sweetening beverages, but also with fruits in jams for bread, which became a staple of the lower- and middle-classes in 16th century England; the combination proving to be a cost- and energy-efficient (calories) meal for the working classes. This increasing use of sugar and sweets, especially in the British working class perspective, could be interpreted as individuals’ needs to have the energy, in the form of calories, to physically do work. Mintz adds that the contemporary use of the “coffee break” to satiate the need to consume caffeine has added to the consumption phenomenon; with sugar as both economically and physiologically stimulating. The globalization of sugar was not a single phenomenon, as it could have been a part of a greater process, which could have included coffees and teas. The coffee break may seem like a brief, harmless distraction from a tedious work environment, but the break may be due to the addictive desire for energy, through caffeine and sugar. In concord with exciting the body, the