I will be presenting a virutal poster at the upcoming Food Studies conference in Vancouver, BC. Below is our abstract:

The stories we tell about our food are some of the most important, pervasive, and oldest, as demonstrated by the countless mythical origin stories for culturally sacred foods. Stories are central processes we use to give our lives meaning, and they can often have practical applications as they help us make decision for how best to nourish or heal our bodies. These stories are increasingly becoming part of how foods like chocolate are marketed. The inside of the wrapper on your chocolate bar may tell you a story of the farmer who sourced the cacao as it also sells you its product.

More often than not, however, these stories are being told about the people at origin, rather than by those people; their voices are rarely heard, even if their images may appear on a wrapper. Historias de Cacao/Cocoa Stories (HC/CS), a Real Food Stories video project focused on cacao and chocolate in Nicaragua, aims to change this by collecting stories from people in Nicaragua involved in various aspects of the chocolate and cacao industry. This exhibit introduces the unique HC/CS digital interface and a selection of video stories so that conference participants may hear from the Nicaraguan cacao/chocolate stakeholders.