The breadfruit tree provides the main nourishing fruit of the Pacific Islands. Everyone knows about the adventures of the Bounty Rebels (1788), which have been made into films with a great deal of cliché: the mute Fletcher Christian, played in turn by Clark Gable, Marlon Brando and Mel Gibson; Charles Laughton, Trevor Howard and Anthony Hopkins in the role of Lieutenant Bligh.
It is less well known that the Bounty's mission was to bring back breadfruit to the Caribbean to save the planters' budget for feeding the slaves.