ABSTRACT
Sustainable production and consumption remain a dominant issue in contemporary sustainable development thinking and practice. Even though efforts are in place to ensure global understanding and to change behaviors towards its achievement, most efforts, especially through education, have been slow and incoherent and have ignored critical aspects such as power, privilege and agency. This chapter foregrounds the growing global hyper-consumer culture as an educational issue. Using the story of cocoa production in Ghana, the story seeks to raise awareness of the socio-ecological, cultural conditions and the political economy that surrounds cocoa production and chocolate consumption around the world. Through the story, the chapter uses the existential realities of cocoa farmers and children in cocoa-producing villages in Ghana to highlight some taken-for-granted assumptions about consumer products and their origins. The story provides an opportunity for students to critically interrogate and deconstruct issues of power, privilege, culture, economics, global awareness and environmental sustainability as critical education and learning issues. It also helps students to appreciate their roles as privileged consumers. Ultimately, the story facilitates students’ abilities to appreciate “The True Taste of Chocolate” as a globally desirable and cross-cultural product.
