Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
14.1.6
The Consumer and their Ethics
Despite the growing popularity of organic, very few consumers are aware of the
organic standards or the process of certification. Moreover, the IFOAM Principles
are absent from most consumer organic marketing strategies. For many, “local”,
“regional” or “natural” take pride of place and are often thought to be the same as
organic.
In addition, consumer behavior is “protected,” but it is not regulated, unlike that
of all other actors in the organic agrofood chain. Consumers are “free” to choose
what, how and whether they purchase organic. Therefore consumers and others
acting without any standards but addressed via the IFOAM Principles are invited to
ideally follow the IFOAM Principles directly. Collective consumer arrangements,
like PGS, CSA, food coops, etc., offer ways to foster consumer engagement with
other actors in the organic agrofood chain, bringing the Principles more to the center
of the debate.
14.1.7
Ethics in Organic Education, Extension Services,
and Research
Without question, ethical issues are often more obvious in organic research than in
non-organic food and agriculture studies. With some rare exceptions, the IFOAM
Principles are not generally discussed in university level courses nor are they
prominent in the mission statements of advisory services, organic conferences or
academic journals. Indeed, the influence on, and contributions of researchers to
identifying the ethical foundations of the IFOAM Principles is significant. Studies
of ethics concerning organic farmers, or regarding animal husbandry, and consumer
behavior are common. However, unlike several calls for research in developing
countries that may ask how the proposed research contributes to socio-political or
ethical goals such as the Millennium Development Goals, organic research calls
do not require assessments of how the applied research contributes to the IFOAM
Principles or other ethical dimensions. Furthermore, there is little or no research
available on ethics and the activities of advisors, certifiers, processors or traders.
Despite the weak empirical evidence, it seems that much more could be done to
raise the awareness for, to provide knowledge of, and to intensify the discourse on
the IFOAM Principles in specific agrofood research.
14.1.8
Corporate Industrial Power
Today, the political and corporate industrial influences in organic have become
increasingly significant, if not defining. Power in the organic system has shifted
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