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Macro photograph of sugar (saccharose).
The sugar was on a ruler, and the black marks are 1 mm apart.
Lauri Andler

Sucrose: a disaccharide of glucose (left) and fructose (right), important molecules in the body Wikipedia

NOUN:		1. A sweet crystalline or powdered substance, white when pure, consisting of sucrose obtained mainly from sugar cane and sugar beets and used in many foods, drinks, and medicines to improve their taste. Also called table sugar. 2. Any of a class of water-soluble crystalline carbohydrates, including sucrose and lactose, having a characteristically sweet taste and classified as monosaccharides, disaccharides, and trisaccharides. 3. A unit, such as a lump or cube, in which sugar is dispensed or taken. 4. Slang Sweetheart. Used as a term of endearment.
VERB:		Inflected forms: sug·ared, sug·ar·ing, sug·ars
TRANSITIVE VERB:		1. To coat, cover, or sweeten with sugar. 2. To make less distasteful or more appealing.
INTRANSITIVE VERB:		1. To form sugar. 2. To form granules; granulate. 3. To make sugar or syrup from sugar maple sap. Often used with off.
ETYMOLOGY:		Middle English sugre, from Old French sukere, from Medieval Latin succrum, from Old Italian zucchero, from Arabic sukkar, from Persian shakar, from Sanskrit arkar, grit, ground sugar.
OTHER FORMS:		sugar·er —NOUN
www.bartleby.com 61/76/S0867600.html

Wikipedia:

sugar
History of sugar
Maple sugar
Maple syrup
Agave nectar

In the News . . .

• Tax food makers' caloric sweetener use to reduce consumption, study suggests -- FoodNavigator-USA (6 December 2011)
  
  
• Evolution: Sugar Helped Separate Human Ancestors From Apes' -- ABC News (12 October 2011)
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• Sexual Selection by Sugar Molecule Helped Determine Human Origins, Researchers Say -- Science Daily (11 October 2011)
  
  
• Asian sugar farmers fear prices may fall on over supply -- BBCNews (16 August 2011)

From The Scout Report, University of Wisconsin-Madison
(27 June 2008)

Children's sweet tooth explained -- BBCNews (24 March 2009)

Florida moves to buy out U.S. Sugar Corporation in order to aid Everglades restoration

State pursues sugar buyout to aid Glades
http://www.miamiherald.com/457/story/580786.html

Swamped by developers, but now there is hope for the Everglades
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/swamped-by-developers-but-now-there-is-hope-for-the-everglades-853531.html

Land Deal Would Help Restore Everglades [Real Player]
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91853812

Sugar would stay plentiful, pricey
http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/agriculture/article642351.ece

Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan [pdf, Macromedia Flash Player]
http://www.evergladesplan.org/

The Everglades Digital Library [pdf]
http://cwis.fcla.edu/edl/

Restoring the Everglades has been an uphill battle for decades. A new phase in the battle to save the Everglades may have started this past Tuesday, when the state of Florida effectively bought out the United States Sugar Corporation, which happens to be the nation's largest sugarcane producer. At a press conference, Florida Governor Charlie Crist said, "I can envision no better gift to the Everglades, the people of Florida and the people of America-as well as our planet-than to place in public ownership this missing link that represents the key to true restoration." As part of the deal, U.S. Sugar will receive $1.75 billion from the state and they will turn over 187,000 acres immediately north of Everglades National Park along with other pieces of infrastructure. As this process is completed over the coming years, the natural flow of water will be restored to the area, effectively adding about a million acre-feet of water storage. There are plenty of details to be worked out, but the atmosphere surrounding this recent announcement remains one of true excitement. The mood might be best summarized by Margaret McPherson, vice president of the Everglades Foundation, who remarked, "I'm going to do cartwheels." [KMG]

The first link will lead visitors to an article on this recent transaction from this Tuesday's Miami Herald. The second link leads to another piece on the subject from the Independent's Leonard Doyle writing from Washington, DC. Moving on, the third link leads to a National Public Radio feature on the sale of U.S. Sugar. The fourth link leads to an investigative report from this Wednesday's St. Petersburg Times which examines how this sale might affect the price of sugar. For those who would like to know more about the Everglades Restoration plan, the fifth link contains numerous publications, fact sheets, and interactive activities on this long-term process. Finally, the last link leads to the Everglades Digital Library, which was developed using the Collection Workflow Integration System (CWIS), a free software package created by the Internet Scout Project. [KMG]

• Abbott, Elizabeth. Sugar: A Bittersweet History. Penguin Canada, 2008. Overlook, 2010.
  
  
• Agave: Nectar of the Gods? -- Rami Nagel (2 April 2009)
  
  
• Agave Syrup May Not Be So Simple -- Laura Johannes, Wall Street Journal (27 October 2009)
  
  
• Agave vs. Granular Sugars -- All About Agave
  
  
• Agriculture and Environment: Sugarcane -- WWF
  
  
• Beahrs, Andrew. Twain's Feast: Searching for America's Lost Foods in the Footsteps of Samuel Clemens, NY: Penguin, 2010. [maple syrup]
  
  
• Children's sweet tooth explained -- BBCNews (24 March 2009)
  
  
• City of Sugar Museum -- Madeira Island
  
  
• Curtis, Wayne. And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails. NY: Three Rivers, 2007.
  
  
• Dean, Don Howard. The American Cane Mill: A History of the Machines, the Manufacturers, Sugar Cane and Sorghum. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2010.
  
  
• Eagleston, Janet, and Rosemary Hasner. The Maple Syrup Book. Boston: Boston Mills, 2006.
  
  
• Ethical Sugar NGO -- specialized on social, communitarian and environmental sugarcane issues
  
  
• Galloway, J.H. The Sugar Cane Industry: An Historical Geography from its Origins to 1914. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989.
  
  
• Great Western Sugar Digital Collection -- Colorado State University
  
  
• How Sugar Changed the World -- LiveScience (6/3/08)
  
  
• International Sugar Statistics -- Illovo Sugar
  
  
• Introduction of Sugar to Sicily -- Clifford A. Wright
  
  
• Maple Recipe Collection -- Center for Digital Initiatives, University of Vermont Library
  
  
• Macinnis, Peter. Bittersweet: The Story of Sugar. Allen & Unwin, 2002.
  
  
• Mazumdar, Sucheta. Sugar and Society in China: Peasants, Technology, and the World Market. Harvard University Asia Center, 1998.
  
  
• Mintz, Sidney W. Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History. NY: Penguin, 1986.
  
  
• Not So Sweet - The Average American Consumes 150-170 Pounds of Sugar Each Year -- Jennifer M. Regan, Ezine
  
  
• Parker, Matthew. The Sugar Barons: Family, Corruption, Empire, and War in the West Indies. Walker, 2011.
  
  
• Sugar -- J.H. Galloway, Cambridge World HIstory of Food
  
  
• Sugar -- Cook's Thesaurus
  
  
• Sugar and Slavery: Molasses to Rum to Slaves -- Jean M. West, History of Slavery in America
  
  
• THE SUGAR & SLAVE TRADES -- The European Voyages of Exploration, The University of Calgary
  
  
• Sugar Cane: Lecture 21 -- Tropical Horticulture, Center for New Crops & Plant Products, Purdue University
  
  
• Sugar History -- Nordic Sugar
  
  
• Sugar Knowledge International (SKIL)
  
  
• Toussaint-Samat, Maguelonne. A History of Food. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons/Blackwell 2009.
  
  
• USDA Economic Research Service
  • Briefing Rooms
    • Sugar & Sweetners
      • Recommended Data
  • Crops
    • Sugar & Sweeteners
      
      
• Utilizing the Native Labor Force -- Christopher Columbus, 1492, Digital History
  
  
• Watson, Andrew M. "The Arab Agricultural Revolution and Its Diffusion, 700-1100." The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 34, No. 1, Mar., 1974, 8-35. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/2116954>
  
  

• Woloson, Wendy A. Refined Tastes: Sugar, Confectionery, and Consumers in Nineteenth-Century America. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002.
  
  
• Yudkin, John. Sweet and Dangerous: The New Facts About the Sugar You Eat as a Cause of Heart Disease, Diabetes, and Other Killers. The University of Michigan Press, 1972. [Note: Check book reviews on this title.] Pure, White and Deadly. National Health Federation, 1978; Penguin Books 1988.

Harvesting of sugarcane on Mauritius Hannes Grobe, AWI   Wikipedia