Ethics of Food Production and Consumption - The Oxford Topic of Food, Politics, and Society - page 248

example, when food is condensed in a pill or food production is totally delegated to a tiny
proportion of the labor force—they are degrading these relations and themselves.
The meanings of food and food production are culturally and socially differently
shaped, but humans have to continuously learn to deal with those differences and to be
sensitive to the relevant problems. Furthermore, the bodily and social features of food
imply that even in a mobilized society a sense of place is important in connecting with
landscapes and people we trust. This anthropological insight can contribute to a better
dealing with satiety and possibly reduce overweight as well as waste. Many food ethicists
would argue that people, therefore, need to pay more respect to food, more attention to
knowledge of food and food portions, and need to spend more time with food preparation
and eating, producing less waste and more seasonally appropriate (and sustainable) eating.
Conclusion: the Future of Food and
Food Ethics
Similar to other philosophical disciplines, it is normal for the discipline of food ethics
to spend a lot of time analyzing the current strategies to feed the world. Some would say
that food ethics, in questioning and critically analyzing, makes the task of feeding the
world unnecessarily difficult. The difference that food ethics can make is either super-
fluous or a nuisance. However, serious mistakes were made in the past, and it is better
to be critical with respect to established routines than to aim at giving immediate relief
for very complex and fundamental problems that, on reflection, do not allow for quick
and easy solutions. Taking the history of food production and food consumption into
account, one sees that one cannot continue with the current strategies of improving pro-
duction without looking at the quality of food (production) and its embedding in human
practices. The past does not dictate the future; citizens have to ask themselves how far
one should redirect efforts to feed the world toward a food system in which humans are
ethically responsible for food production and consumption. Food ethics will have to do
more to make it clear that farming is not only a respectable job but also a livelihood that
is essential for basic human capacities. Reciprocally, respect for food and the meal is an
essential complement. Food can only a have role in the good life as good food.
References
Berry, W. 2010. What Matters? Economics for a Renewed Commonwealth . Berkeley:
Counterpoint Press.
Bray, F. 1984. Agriculture , Science and Civilization in China. In, Biology and Biological
Te c h n o l o g y , Vol. 6. Part II. edited by J. Needham. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
p. 726.