In Chocolate We Trust takes readers inside modern-day Hershey,
Pennsylvania, headquarters of the iconic Hershey brand. A destination
for chocolate enthusiasts since the early 1900s, Hershey has transformed
from a model industrial town into a multifaceted suburbia powered by
philanthropy. At its heart lies the Milton Hershey School Trust, a
charitable trust with a mandate to serve social orphans and a $12
billion endowment amassed from Hershey Company profits. The trust is a
longstanding source of pride for people who call Hershey home and revere
its benevolent capitalist founder--but in recent years it has become a
subject of controversy and intrigue.
Using interviews, participant observation, and archival research,
anthropologist Peter Kurie returns to his hometown to examine the legacy
of the Hershey Trust among local residents, company employees, and
alumni of the K-12 Milton Hershey School. He arrives just as a scandal
erupts that raises questions about the outsized power of the private
trust over public life. Kurie draws on diverse voices across the
community to show how philanthropy stirs passions and interests well
beyond intended beneficiaries. In Chocolate We Trust reveals the
cultural significance of Hershey as a forerunner to socially conscious
corporations and the cult of the entrepreneur-philanthropist. The
Hershey story encapsulates the dreams and wishes of today's
consumer-citizens: the dream of becoming personally successful, and the
wish that the most affluent among us will serve the common good.
