By 1890, a global agricultural economy had taken shape, accompanied by complex changes in labour movement patterns, capital flows, ecologies and technology. (i) Food no longer came from a nearby village or town, but from thousands of miles away. (ii) It was not grown by a peasant tilling his own land, but by a recently arrived agricultural worker. (iii) Food was transported by railways built for that very purpose, and by ships manned by low-paid workers from Southern Europe, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean.