Carla Martin (anthropologist)

Carla Martin is an American anthropologist.[1] Martin is a lecturer in African and African American studies at Harvard University.[2] Martin's main area of study is chocolate and cocoa production.

Martin was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts[3] and earned bachelor's and master's degrees at Harvard.[2] After college, Martin taught English in Cape Verda for three years,[4][2] there, she learnt about how the Portuguese government there had conscripted Cape Verdeans into indentured labor on cacao and sugar plantations until the 1960s.[3][2] It was from this experience that Martin has said she gained her interest in chocolate production.[4] In 2012, Martin completed her doctorate in African and African American Studies at Harvard.[2] The following year, she taught the class "Chocolate Culture and the Politics of Food" at Harvard for the first time.[2] In 2015, Martin founded the nonprofit Institute for Cacao and Chocolate Research (ICCR).[3] The ICCR researches and disseminates information about flavor cocoa to consumers and cacao farmers and laborers[3][1] and aims to make the chocolate supply chain more equitable.[3] As of 2020, the ICCR had run the New England Chocolate Festival for three years.[4][5]

As of 2024, Martin still teaches the class Chocolate Culture.[3][2] The class covers chocolate tasting, the history of chocolate and other food commodities and how they relate to current cocoa production and race.[1] The class has received some attention from white supremacists.[2] Martin's work through Harvard and the ICCR uses chocolate as an opening for discussions around labor, human rights and politics.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c Carr (2020).
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Gibson (2024).
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Friel (2018).
  4. ^ a b c Dugan (2019), p. 27.
  5. ^ Fine Cacao and Chocolate Institute 2020

Sources

  • Carr, Teresa (February 13, 2020). "The Bitter Side of Cocoa Production". Sapiens. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  • Dugan, Owen (July 31, 2019). "Conscientious Consumption". Wine Spectator. Vol. 44, no. 5.
  • Friel, Lauren (March 20, 2018). "This Harvard chocolate scholar wants you to eat better chocolate". Boston.com. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  • Gibson, Lydialyle (April 11, 2024). "The Dark History Behind Chocolate". Harvard Magazine. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  • "#StayHomeWithChocolate Festival launched to inspire consumers, support businesses" (Press release). PR Newswire. March 24, 2020. Archived from the original on June 1, 2025. Retrieved June 1, 2025.
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