Presentation Title
Money Does Grow on Trees: The Dark Side of Chocolate?
Major Field of Study
Liberal Studies
Location
Dominican University of California (online)
Start Date
20-6-2021 11:00 AM
End Date
20-6-2021 11:40 AM
Abstract
Marja discusses chocolate as a global commodity that affects the lives of everyone from workers on cocoa plantations to consumers around the world. She argues that chocolate has profound relationships to business, science and technology, and to religion. Marja will follow the journey of the cocoa bean from its origins in the Amazon Basin to European coffee and chocolate houses, and to African cocoa plantations, where the cocoa bean encountered social justice issues, including child labour, recently exacerbated by Covid-19. She argues for continuing research of sustainable and equitable solutions towards ethical production of the world's favourite treat.
Money Does Grow on Trees: The Dark Side of Chocolate?
Dominican University of California (online)
Marja discusses chocolate as a global commodity that affects the lives of everyone from workers on cocoa plantations to consumers around the world. She argues that chocolate has profound relationships to business, science and technology, and to religion. Marja will follow the journey of the cocoa bean from its origins in the Amazon Basin to European coffee and chocolate houses, and to African cocoa plantations, where the cocoa bean encountered social justice issues, including child labour, recently exacerbated by Covid-19. She argues for continuing research of sustainable and equitable solutions towards ethical production of the world's favourite treat.
Presenter Biography
Marja Karelia has a BA (2005) in Anthropology and Spanish from the University of British Columbia (UBC) specializing in Mesoamerican Music Archaeology followed by Archaeology and Art and Culture Studies at Simon Fraser University (SFU). Marja has an MA in Liberal Studies from SFU (2020). Her main research interest is the interaction of music and culture from interdisciplinary perspectives, such as history, philosophy and ethnomusicology. Her favourite treat is chocolate.