{"id":17040,"date":"2020-03-30T15:54:17","date_gmt":"2020-03-30T15:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/?p=17040"},"modified":"2023-06-08T18:27:03","modified_gmt":"2023-06-08T18:27:03","slug":"doctor-chocolate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2020\/03\/30\/doctor-chocolate","title":{"rendered":"Chocolate expert immerses herself in research"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Kristy
Kristy Leissle in the field. Moutia Murheb photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Douglas Esser
\nAn expert from the University of Washington Bothell on the culture, economics and politics of chocolate, Kristy Leissle is currently living in West Africa to conduct field work with cocoa growers for her next book on Africa\u2019s contributions to chocolate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her 15 years of research, writing and teaching about chocolate, Leissle has looked deeply into a subject with which many people feel a personal sensory attachment. Think of a cookie. Now think of a warm, chocolate chip cookie. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re so emotionally attached to chocolate because of the associations we have created between chocolate and love, chocolate and romance,\u201d said Leissle, an affiliate faculty member. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

足彩app哪个是正规的 foremost Valentine\u2019s Day gift, chocolate also is associated with other occasions and holidays such as anniversaries, Halloween and Easter that bring special meaning to the small cocoa bean. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taste and enjoyment, however, are only a part of chocolate\u2019s story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A taste for teaching, research <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Kristy
Kristy Leissle speaking in 2018. Marc Studer photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In her last book, \u201cCocoa,\u201d Leissle wrote about politics within the chocolate industry. She says she has an additional perspective now, working with cocoa growers who have a 365-day-a-year commitment to farms they hope to leave to their children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her grasp of history and economics \u2014 plus flavor tastings at almost every class meeting \u2014 made Chocolate: A Global Inquiry a popular course at UW Bothell where Leissle taught from 2009 to 2017 in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences<\/a>. It was an ideal class for Discovery Core, the series of courses that introduce first-year students to scholarship and research through interdisciplinary topics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

足彩app哪个是正规的s loved the experiential learning, she recalled. 足彩app哪个是正规的 course culminated in the UW Bothell Chocolate Festival, a final exam where students presented their research \u2014 yes, and chocolates \u2014 to visitors who asked exam questions such as \u201cWhat is white chocolate?\u201d or \u201cWhat is fair trade?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt put the students in the position of being experts and showing off their knowledge in an interactive way. We had a lot of fun,\u201d said Leissle, who also taught other courses to majors in Global Studies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2018, Leissle has been living in Accra, the capital of Ghana, one of the world\u2019s biggest producers of cocoa beans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLiving here, I can go into the bush any time I want and talk with farmers I know, people doing the everyday work,\u201d Leissle said. \u201cI have such an opportunity living here to understand the industry more profoundly.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the ground <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Kristy
Kristy Leissle moderating panel. Moutia Murheb photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Africa is the foundation of the chocolate industry and has been for 100 years, Leissle said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you live here,\u201d she said, \u201cyou see everyday reality. 足彩app哪个是正规的re is a lot to be celebrated or at least respected.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leissle is directly involved as the co-founder of a nongovernment, nonprofit organization, the Cocoapreneurship Institute of Ghana. Historically, the country has mostly exported its cocoa beans. 足彩app哪个是正规的 institute supports people who ask, \u201cWhy not keep cocoa in this country and make something out of it here?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More Ghana businesses are making chocolate \u201cfrom bean to bar\u201d or adding value with innovations, she said. 足彩app哪个是正规的 institute offers support in ways such as holding the African Cocoa and Chocolate Expo and bringing a U.S. manufacturer of cocoa machinery to a local event to meet with entrepreneurs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHaving that face-to-face interaction and feedback had never happened before. CIG was able to make that happen,\u201d Leissle said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leissle also teaches courses at the institute, including a \u201cMade in Ghana\u201d session dedicated to local industries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transnational \u2018de-expert\u2019 <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Kristy
Kristy Leissle teaching class. Bright Dziwornu photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Leissle became deeply interested in chocolate when she was a doctoral student at the University of Washington and applied for a Bonderman Travel Fellowship<\/a> to study chocolate in different parts of the world. She was awarded the fellowship for four months of travel. Her adviser suggested she make the transnational investigation of chocolate her thesis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years of writing books, blogs and articles and giving talks, Leissle eventually became known as \u201cDr. Chocolate,\u201d the expert. \u201cI shared my expertise and told people what I thought,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when she moved to Ghana, she realized she had to become like a student again. She needed to see the situation among farmers and chocolate makers with fresh eyes and not rely on what she already knew. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a very interesting journey for me as a researcher to \u2018de-expert\u2019 myself when I\u2019m in the field,\u201d Leissle said. \u201cIt\u2019s not my job to tell them their relationship with cocoa or chocolate. I\u2019m in the position of learner now, getting to know people themselves and to bear witness to their reality.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finding interdisciplinarity where you are <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Her experience has taught Leissle that many simple pleasures, such as chocolate, are actually quite complex. If she were teaching at UW Bothell today, she\u2019d urge students to see that complexity in more things. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019ve done with chocolate, you can do with anything, like the eyeglasses I\u2019m wearing, the dress I\u2019m wearing, this ring, all the books on the shelf behind me,\u201d Leissle said in a video interview. \u201c足彩app哪个是正规的y all have their economics. 足彩app哪个是正规的y all have their politics. 足彩app哪个是正规的y all have their cultural aspect, their psychology even. Some of them have agricultural roots that we don\u2019t even see. If you\u2019re wearing cotton, it was growing from the ground at some point. This bookshelf was a tree. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would like for students to remember that the way I research and write about chocolate \u2014 coming at it from all these angles \u2014 we can actually do for anything,\u201d she said. \u201cI would hope that every student would find that thing that sparks their passion for research, their passion for knowledge, in the way that chocolate did for me.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leissle wants them to learn nothing is one-dimensional. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverything comes from this hugely interconnected, often international, supply chain,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have opportunities for endless learning about anything we care about.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An expert from the University of Washington Bothell on the culture, economics and politics of chocolate, Kristy Leissle is currently living in West Africa to conduct field work with cocoa growers for her next book on Africa’s contributions to chocolate. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_is_archived":false,"_archived_contact_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[202,229,253,200,214],"tags":[],"school":[419],"class_list":["post-17040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-campus-news","category-faculty","category-global-impact","category-profiles","category-research","school-school-of-ias"],"acf":{"related_links":{"toggle_visibility":false,"link_1":null,"link_2":null,"link_3":null,"link_4":null,"link_5":null},"highlight_box":{"toggle_visibility":false,"title":"","content":"","button":null,"button_style":"angled-purple-button","button_screen_reader_text":""},"contact_type_1":{"toggle_visibility":true,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"contact_type_2":{"toggle_visibility":false,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"social_media":{"toggle_visibility":false,"facebook_url":"","instagram_url":"","linkedin_url":"","twitter_url":"","youtube_url":""},"blog_archive_sidebar_visibility":false},"yoast_head":"\nChocolate expert immerses herself in research - 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