Farmers near Juliaca, Peru winnow quinoa on a windy day.(Courtesy of Dr. Emma McDonell)

Quinoa is known as an ancient grain, grown for centuries by indigenous farmers in the Andes Mountains in South America.

In the past generation, quinoa was touted as a “superfood” around the world - soaring, then falling, in the global market.

Dr. Emma McDonell tells the complicated story in “The Quinoa Bust: The Making and Unmaking of an Andean Miracle Crop,” published by the University of California Press.

She is an assistant professor of anthropology here on our campus, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

On Friday, starting at 4 PM, a campus book launch with a Q&A will be held in the Roth Reading Room at the UTC Library.

Dr. Emma McDonell, at left - and the cover of “The Quinoa Bust,” at right.(UTC & University of California Press)