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]