Abstract: | Introduction -- Escape from Kansas -- Good knight of the four winds -- The New Year's resolution -- The golden age of travel -- Tramps together -- From Far East to Mideast -- The ends of the earth -- Romance in America -- Flying machine crank -- A beautiful job -- Easy money -- Better babies -- A Chinese wall -- Plant enemies -- The impossible -- The last explorers -- Grumpy old bachelor tramp -- Pushing on "At a time when much American fare tended to be bland, Fairchild believed in the free exchange of food plants--preferably colorful, tasty ones--among people around the world. He convinced the U.S. Department of Agriculture to sponsor daring overseas explorations to track down and bring back foreign cultivars. Fairchild traveled to remote corners of the globe, searching for fruits, vegetables, and grains that would transform the American diet. In Fruits of Eden, Amanda Harris vividly recounts the exploits of Fairchild and his small band of adventurers and botanists as they traversed Africa, Asia, South America, and Europe."--Dust jacket |
