Food Ethics
Developing a personal food ethic is all about understanding the far-reaching implications of our food choices. Food is the center of so much in our lives.
Food poverty and food injustice is an issue that affects every livable continent on our planet, both high and low-income countries, and communities alike. Creating an ethical framework for how you choose to consume and purchase can feel nerve-wracking because there are so many avenues to explore and advocate for. Here are some examples ranging from the environment to the economy and everything in between:
seasonal and local sourcing of produce
fair wages for workers and humane/responsible working conditions for farmers in low-income countries and for workers of huge corporations
adopting sustainable agriculture practices that are both profitable and environmentally sound (i.e permaculture or crop rotation)
circular economics
humane production of meat and seafood (and if it’s even possible)
accessibility of quality and culturally relevant food (whole foods) in food deserts and food apartheids
cutting food and seed wastes in food paradises and places of surplus
promoting equality and resource sharing between farmers who are women, BIPOC, and young because they are often marginalized or left out of conversations on land access and property rights, sustainability, and environmental justice.
Working with my university’s Student Environmental Center (SEC) has given me insight into how food poverty not only affects my campus but also my community of Asheville and Western, NC at large. I have also learned the opportunity costs, barriers, and privileges that may come with food ethics. For example, I live on campus with:
three gardens that have copious amounts of produce (one of which I was a year-long mentee for)
a dining hall that makes genuine strides in only serving seasonal fruits, composts waste (which gets used by our gardens and by the wider community and uses meat/meatless products by local farms and companies within Asheville).
Our campus venues sell Asheville-owned and made snack products and beverages, etc.
It may be incredibly hard to integrate ethical policies in your current style of living, but at the end of the day, we want to leave a positive, small footprint behind us. I think the goal is to reiterate the idea that what your dollar supports ends up making more of that particular product….being ethical doesn’t have to be expensive or eradicating whole food groups from your diet. But you do get to vote at least three to five times a day with the meals and snacks you eat. We should also push our businesses and public spaces to make sustainability and ethical consumption the default!! Making decisions easier for consumers minimizes the harm caused by spending.
Here is a guide for creating a food ethics framework + literature you can read for further research:
volunteer at local food co-ops or social justice campaigns that focus on the bridge between social justice and food poverty.
find an approach that combines your interests- feminist approach/common good approach/duty-based approach, etc.
if you are a meat/dairy eater you should try limiting your intake to 3 -5 times a week- alternating between which meals you choose. Want more of a challenge? Erase these products from your diet completely!
cook more meals at home! From scratch if you can.
try eating along with the seasons changing-allow the earth to guide your palate. This has been one of the most fun to see within my own tastebuds- as I go through each season I find myself craving what is in and available, and not that interested in what is not. I find that it makes me appreciate the tomato in the summer and the squash in the winter in a whole new way.
join or start a gardening network that promotes and shares sustainable and local resource guides, plots, seeds, host potlucks, etc.
practice, join, support guerrilla farmers/gardening pop ups.
shop more at your local farmer’s markets
plant your own herbs, bedside plants, backyard garden! etc.
Let me know how you are developing your food ethic and if you need more guidance or want to do more research, here are some literary pieces that read incredibly well, but also provide more resources.
Cooked by Michael Pollan
Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer
The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
happy (intuitive) eating!
cover image by @firlefanzski