food ethics and sustainability Flashcards
5 key ethics
- responsibility to self and others
- food virtues
- vegetarianism and animals
- agriculture/environment
- industrial agriculture
responsibility to self and others?
improve and maintain well-being by diet
food virtues?
towards a social community by virtues:
hospitality, sharing, manners/behaviour, temperance (moderation)
vegetarianism and animals
- animal welfare
- use of fuel water/ghg/wated food/increased heart disease
defense of meat eating
economic benefits for people in industry
specialized diets; pregnant women
agriculture/environmental ethics
food farming
live stock
crop cultivation
aim: develop moral sustainable architecture
industrial agriculture
machinery/chemicals/monocrops: productive but immogral use of land/animals/pollution
what does industrial agriculture lead to
topsoil erosion
water contmaition
biodiversity loss
health risks to consumers and workers
what is food?
social good spritiaility nutrition nature aestethic culture desideratum politcs culture
4 reasons for global transition towards sustainability
- food provision
- social impact of international trade
- global food governance
- longer supply chain
sustainability principles
people, planet, profit
ecological aspect of sustainbility
energy and water climate change presticides pollution biodiversity landscape animals waste
key concerns in sustainbility
environment (Trade and production)
animal welfare
health and safety
socio-economic impact of international trade
monocrop effects
reduce variety in landscape which:
- destroys biodiveristy
- makes countryside less attractive for inhabitants
- reduce food prices
- food= more for animals than people= more pollutants/ghg
why are monocrops used
meed global demand for food
for intense livestock breeding and animal feed (soy/corn)
precision farming: what is it and and benefits?
reduces the chemical input of food by using sensors/gps/drones to evaluate crops=
less fertilizer/pesticide use
saves water, energy, time, money, etc.
reduces contact of workers with dagnerous chemicals
organic farming methods
use of: manure biofertilizers biological management crop rotation vermicompose greenleaf manure
issues with organic farming
lower yield
higher cost
failure of 100% guarantee
agroforestry
used in tuscany and coffee plantations:
combining shrubs, trees and crops to increase yield, nutrition, quality and biodiviersy due to plant symbiotic actions
what is food processining
transformaiton of agricultural products into food
american method of food processing
focus on same product that can be produced the fast/largest
high tech and innovation
italian method of processing
focus on singularity/scarcity of a product
nutritional maximum
local farming methods
unique/traditional focus
general steps of processining
- processing line
- distribution
- consumption
key issues to procesing
- pollution
- energy/water usage
- waste
why would a company want to be green
improvements made by large firms who can afford to invest as they want a good reputation and are more suscpetible to public scrutiny
issues with food distrubtion
food miles= energy used/waste created by long distance transportation of food and pacakging
how can environmental impact of the food industry be measured
LCA: life cycle analyssi
LCA process
measures climate change created from:
- ghg
- eutrophication
- nutrifying emmitions
- abiotic/biotic resource depletion
advantage of LCA
creates a quantifiable, clear data analyzing the flow of water, energy, pollutants etc.
why is organic better than nonorganic (example)
less primary energy used than non-organic due to use of nitrogen fixing legumes instead of synthethic fertilizers
the negative side of organic production (example)
creates larger burdens as nitrogen leaching and low yield means that more land is needed in organic production
quinoa
bolivian organic grain
–> recent years has tripled in export as a superfood
issues:
- loss of soil fertility/sustainbility
- fair trade issues
- monocultures
- land expansion interfers with llama herding, biodiversity and creates hunger
climate change and food suply chain
creates huge GHG impact, which in turn affects:
food production
human health
food security
how is globalization bad
growth of global food= makes world depdnent on worldwide transport= increases GHG
how is globalization good
international trade improves energetic efficency and is vital for food produciton in fragile areas
sources of GHG
energy (60%) transport (20%) agriculture (10%) industry (7%_ waste (5%)
20=30% of food is watsted
main source is meat/dairty
kyoto protocol/UN frameworok on cc/paris talks
international commitment to reduce global carbon footbring by border taaxes, tech and national approaches
reduce temp to under 2c
reduce long supply chains
reduce fossil fuel and waste
increase local consumption and production
