Abstract
The ethical and political discourse around food production and consumption is increasingly focused on the systems that provide the food that we eat. The predominant “industrial” or “global” food system has received a barrage of criticism in recent years, including that it displaces smallholding farmers, exploits workers, undermines cultural practices, disrupts rural communities, degrades the environment, promotes unhealthy eating, empowers corporations over individuals, causes animal suffering, diminishes food autonomy and security, and reduces the aesthetic quality of food. Critics of the global food system argue that we ought to reject the system in favor of shorter food supply chains, more local and regional food systems, which engender responsibility and empower smaller producers, workers, communities, families, and individuals. However, the “alternative food movement” has itself been subject to large amounts of criticism on the grounds that its food system vision would actually reduce food security, diminish diet quality, decrease food access, and make our diets less aesthetically interesting. Moreover, the movement has been charged with being classist, valorizing elitist ideas about “good food”, and promoting a false nostalgia about pre-industrial food conditions and practices. In this paper I provide a brief overview of the global food system and alternative food movement before discussing the ethical perspectives embedded in the cross system critiques. I suggest that proponents of the alternative food movement prioritize one type of ethical concern – recognition and respect – while proponents of the global food system prioritize another – bringing about overall beneficial outcomes. I then explore how a third ethical outlook – virtue-oriented ethics – might approach the food system issue. I suggest that a virtue-oriented approach is useful for identifying both insights and limitations of positions in the food system debate.
Parts of this chapter are adapted from Sandler (2015).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Alexandratos, N., and J. Bruinsma. 2012. World agriculture towards 2030/2050: The 2012 revision. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Alkon, A.H., and J. Agyeman, eds. 2011. Cultivating food justice: Race, class, and sustainability. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Bittman, M. 2014. Leaving organic out of it. New York Times, viewed 6 June 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/07/opinion/bittman-leave-organic-out-of-it.html
Cassidy, E.S., West, P.C., Gerber, J.S., Foley, J.A. 2013. Redefining agricultural yields: From tonnes to people nourished per hectare. Environmental Research Letters 8(034015), viewed 20 May 2014. http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/8/3/034015/pdf/1748-9326_8_3_034015.pdf
DEFRA. 2012. Food statistics pocketbook: 2012 – in year update. York: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Desrochers, P., and H. Shimizu. 2012. The locavore’s dilemma: In praise of the 10,000 mile diet. New York: Public Affairs.
FAO. 2012. The state of world fisheries and aquaculture 2012. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
———. 2013. The state of food insecurity in the world: The multiple dimensions of food security. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
FAOSTAT. 2013. FAO statistical yearbook: 2013: World food and agriculture. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
———. 2014. FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, viewed 21 April 2014. http://faostat.fao.org/
Gottlieb, R., and A. Joshi. 2010. Food justice. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Hursthouse, R. 1999. On virtue ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Krausmann, F., K. Erb, S. Gingrich, H. Haberl, A. Bondeau, V. Gaube, C. Lauk, C. Plutzar, and T.D. Searchinger. 2013. Global human appropriation of net primary production doubled in the 20th century. PNAS 110 (25): 10324–10329.
Lappe, F. 1985. Diet for a small planet. New York: Ballantine Books.
Laudan, R. 2010. A plea for culinary modernism: Why we should love new, fast, processed food. In The Gastronomica reader, ed. Darra Goldstein. Berkeley: University of California Press.
McWilliams, J. 2009. Just food: Where locavores get it wrong and how we can truly eat responsibly. New York: Back Bay Books.
NOAA. 2013. Wild-caught seafood, fish watch, viewed 21 April 2014. http://www.fishwatch.gov/farmed_seafood/outside_the_us.htm
Paalberg, R. 2010. Food politics: What everyone needs to know. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Petrini, C. 2004. Slow food: The case for taste. New York: Columbia University Press.
Pollan, M. 2007. The Omnivore’s dilemma: A natural history of four meals. New York: Penguin.
Running, S.W. 2012. A measurable planetary boundary for the biosphere. Science 337 (6101): 1458–1459.
Sandler, R. 2007. Character and environment. New York: Columbia University Press.
———. 2015. Food ethics: The basics. New York: Routledge.
Schlosser, E. 2001. Fast food nation: The dark side of the all-American meal. New York: Mariner Books.
Shiva, V. 2000. Stolen harvest: The hijacking of the global food supply. Cambridge, MA: South End Press.
Swanton, C. 2005. Virtue ethics: A pluralistic view. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Thompson, P.B. 2010. The agrarian vision: Sustainability and environmental ethics. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press.
USDA. 2012a. U.S. agricultural trade: Import share of consumption. United States Department Agriculture, Economic Research Service, viewed 21 April 2014.http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/international-markets-trade/us-agricultural-trade/import-share-of-consumption.aspx#.U02Wdq2wL4P
———. 2012b. Dairy: Background. United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, viewed 20 April 2014. http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/animal-products/dairy/background.aspx#.Utdh32RDuFA
———. 2014. Food expenditures: Overview. United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, viewed 20 April 2014, http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-expenditures.aspx#26654
USDA-NASS. 2014. Milk: Production per cow by year, US. United States Department of Agriculture/National Agricultural Statistics Service, viewed 20 April 2014. http://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/Milk_Production_and_Milk_Cows/cowrates.asp
Van Wensveen, L. 2000. Dirty virtues: The emergence of ecological virtue language. New York: Humanity Book.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sandler, R. (2018). An Ethical Theory Analysis of the Food System Discourse. In: Thompson, P., Thompson, K. (eds) Agricultural Ethics in East Asian Perspective. The International Library of Environmental, Agricultural and Food Ethics, vol 27. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92603-2_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92603-2_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-92602-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-92603-2
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyPhilosophy and Religion (R0)