Below you will find a selection of my publications on cocoa and chocolate, with links where available and pdf downloads where appropriate (that is, where I have the right to make the content available on this website). For a full list, see my CV. If you have any research or publication questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
SCHOLARSHIP: BOOKS & ARTICLES
- Cocoa. Resources series (Cambridge: Polity, 2018).
#3 on Food Tank Fall 2018 Reading List: 19 Books to Take the Food System Back
Geographical review, by James Field, March 6, 2018
Financial Times review, by Peter Chapman, February 12, 2018
Cocoa is available for purchase online from Wiley and Amazon, as well as in select bookstores; ask your local bookstore to order a copy if they don’t have one in stock! In Accra, Cocoa is available at the Centre for National Culture, Vidya Bookstore in Osu, and EPP Books (various locations). If you are flying out of Kotoka, Cocoa is available at the Wild Gecko shop in Terminal 3. - “‘Artisan’ as Brand: Adding Value in a Craft Chocolate Community,” Food, Culture & Society: An International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, Vol. 20, No. 1 (2017): 37-57. download Artisan as Brand
- “Invisible West Africa: The Politics of Single Origin Chocolate,” Gastronomica: The Journal of Critical Food Studies, Vol. 13, No. 3 (2013): 22-31.
download Invisible West Africa - “Cosmopolitan Cocoa Farmers: Refashioning Africa in Divine Chocolate Advertisements,” Journal of African Cultural Studies, Vol. 24, No. 2 (2012): 121-139.
download Cosmopolitan Cocoa Farmers - “The Essence of Chocolate: A Rich, Dark, and Well-kept Secret,” Andy McShea, Kristy Leissle, Mark A. Smith. Nutrition, Vol. 25 (2009): 1104-1105.
download Essence of Chocolate
JOURNALISM, INDUSTRY REPORTS & GUEST BLOG POSTS
- “Reframing Success,” external perspective on child labor remediation, Nestlé Cocoa Plan, Tackling Child Labor report, 2019
- “I am a cocoa farmer,” occasional series profiling African women and men who farm cocoa, ConfectioneryNews.com, launched August 2019
John Narh Adamnor, Eastern Region, Ghana, August 9, 2019
Bahati Sanjingu, Morogoro Region, Tanzania, January 14, 2020 - “Who Wins When Cocoa’s Price Rises? Parts I & II,” Chocolopolis blog, June 6 & 11, 2018
- “Sharing Gola Rainforest Chocolate Part I,” republished by Twin, May 21, 2018 and Dandelion Chocolate, May 24, 2018
- “On Being a Chocolate Scholar,” Oxford Today, March 12, 2018
- “Discover the politics behind the chocolate,” Divine Chocolate blog, February 15, 2018
- “A Career in Chocolate,” The Aularian, July 2017
- “What Does the Word ‘Artisan’ Mean?” Dandelion Chocolate blog, October 5, 2016
- “Has the Term ‘Artisan’ Lost its Art?” co-authored with Curtis Vreeland, ConfectioneryNews.com, April 29, 2016
- “Why I Teach My Students About Chocolate,” Dandelion Chocolate blog, February 26, 2016
- “Craft Chocolate Shakes Up Industry as its Sweet Season Begins,” The Conversation: Academic Rigor, Journalistic Flair, Economy & Business, October 14, 2015
- “Racing the Melt: The Quest for Heat-Resistant Chocolate,” The Conversation: Academic Rigor, Journalistic Flair, Economy & Business, July 28, 2015
- “Labels of Love: How to Choose Chocolate for Your Valentine,” The Conversation: Academic Rigor, Journalistic Flair, Economy & Business, February 13, 2015
- “The Intrigue of Aaron Barthel, Master of the Ephemeral Chocolate Truffle,” Alimentum: The Literature of Food, October 2013
- “The Chocolate Fix,” yes! magazine, Issue 67, Fall 2013, 28-32
OTHER THAN CHOCOLATE …
I have occasionally taken a break from cocoa and chocolate to work on, among other things, science fiction publishing and the polar regions. Here are some titles if you have an interest in either:
- Penguin Post Office, BBC Nature documentary
- The Monolith: Science Fiction Short Stories, Volume III: What’s In My Head, eds. Kristy Leissle and David Nixon (Seattle: CreateSpace, 2015).
- The Monolith: Science Fiction Short Stories, Volume II: Everybody Dies, eds. David Nixon and Kristy Leissle. (Seattle: CreateSpace, 2014).
- The Monolith: Science Fiction Short Stories, Volume I: Where the Circle Ends, eds. Kristy Leissle and David Nixon. (Seattle: CreateSpace, 2013).
