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Water, Food, and Agriculture

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Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics

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Introduction

Access to clean freshwater is becoming increasingly difficult for many people around the globe. The problem of water scarcity will require both local and global remedies and the implementation of permanent, long-term solutions. Ethical issues arise at the levels of both the crisis and its solutions. They also do not result only from the problem of water scarcity. All water use has impacts on humans and the environment that require ethical consideration. The first section of this entry summarizes the water crisis and reviews generally the ethical issues it entails. The second section briefly discusses several proposed solutions and their ethical implications. The third section examines the idea that there is a human right to water. The fourth and final section considers different water management paradigms and their approach to the ethical issues of water use.

The Water Crisis

Water is a truly renewable resource. The water humans consume today is the same water that was...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Louisiana Scholars’ College, Northwestern State University, University Parkway, Natchitoches, LA, USA

    Dr. Keith Dromm (Associate Professor of Philosophy)

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  1. Dr. Keith Dromm
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Correspondence to Keith Dromm .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Michigan State University Dept. Philosophy, East Lansing, Michigan, USA

    Paul B. Thompson

  2. University of North Texas Dept. Philosophy & Religion Studies, Denton, Texas, USA

    David M. Kaplan

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© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Dromm, K. (2012). Water, Food, and Agriculture. In: Thompson, P., Kaplan, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6167-4_344-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6167-4_344-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6167-4

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