Ethics of Food Production and Consumption - The Oxford Topic of Food, Politics, and Society - page 246

products and not for their lives; it is not necessary to chase your own wild animal in
providing your own food.
Food Ethics and Politics
The rise of consumer concerns in the developed countries is accompanied by activism,
by writing on fair food, by organizing boycotts and buycotts, by initiating local food areas
(urban gardening), by participating in social media, and by political action. Moreover,
there is “ethical consumerism” taking action in the supermarket by urging for more and
relevant information about where the products come from, how they are made, and what
ethical decisions are made in production and rewards to producers. Political action can
be so strong that governments are compelled to issue stricter regulation or better over-
sight of existing regulations; some companies are playing a key role, and some busi-
nesses claim the position of a “green avant-garde.” As is clear from the list of concerns
(see Ethical Issues of Food Production), many ethically conscious consumers find it frus-
trating that positions on food and food production are mostly not expressed by political
parties. Voting according to one's food preferences is seldom an option. Some consumers
express their agency via traditional media, new social media, or directly via the market-
place. Although food prices are rising and sustainable, animal welfare friendly and fair
food is, for many, a preference, food is still not a big issue in election campaigns.
Therefore, many ethical consumers become member of NGOs and other organi-
zations while they contribute to “other regarding” political and ethical action. They
contribute to these joint actions, although it is often not in their own direct interest
but, rather, in the interest of others, often people abroad, transcending the borders of
national states. Ethical consumerism is often “subpolitical” and superpolitical, that is,
oriented beneath or beyond the nation state, either toward issues not publicly thema-
tized by national politics or toward transnational corporations and agencies, indirectly
to nations. Many activists act out a new kind of obligation, and, in particular, in acting
together they develop a first-person plural perspective of a group that acts “vicariously,”
as advocates for other groups like small farmers, next generations, or nearly extinct ani-
mals that do not have substantial political voice.
For (academic) ethicists engaged in often-controversial issues like animal welfare or
environmental degradation, it is not always easy to meet standards of scholarly integrity
and to take the relevant aspects fairly into account. Neutrality in this field is impossible;
however, the rules and values of good scholarship are, for many, clear, and upholding
them can have a purifying and idea-generating effect. One of these values is the con-
crete involvement with practioners in animal and crop husbandry and with consumer
groups; it can at least neutralize the idea that farmers are mostly not caring for their ani-
mals or make it understandable why profit is an important driving force. The problem
of animal welfare is not always caused by farmers but lies somewhere else in the chains.
Consumers addicted to cheap meat and retailers putting high profit margins on fresh