ORGANISED GLOBAL PRODUCTION

global production

Global Production

Introduction

Modern western consumers are no longer involved in food production, and have less and less knowledge of, and trust in, production processes. Food, however, is and continues to be an intrinsic good for consumers; rice, for example, in some cultures has not only monetary value, but cultural, social and ethical value as well, because it has an intrinsic role to play in individuals experiencing life according to their ideas of what constitutes a good life (Visser 1986; Watson 1998). It is not clear how consumers' preferences can be communicated to food producers if the gap between consumer preferences and what is actually being done by producers remains in place.

After discussing some political and ethical positions that do not align with consumer's values and responsibilities, I will go into details of current consumer attitudes towards ethics of food, as well as discussing recent trends, such as the increasing diversification into various food styles and corresponding farming and production styles. Many consumers complain about barriers which prevent them from realizing ethically conscious food choices. As a consequence of many social scientific studies framing the buying, cooking and eating person as both a citizen concerned with ethical issues related to food production, and as a (materialist, profit maximizing) consumer, researchers may neglect the fact that consumers are confronted with various difficulties, such as what and who to believe regarding the information about food and ingredients provided on product label and by the media. In this context, where conflicting and potentially untrustworthy information is being presented, consumers often decide to buy the cheapest food stuffs available.

Only recently are these potential barriers to optimal consumer choice being addressed, with remarkable results. However, we can identify barriers from the producer's side as well: the “productionist paradigm” applied to food production practices during the last sixty years actively militates against the producer taking heed of ethical concerns.

Current consumer attitudes towards ethics of food: some trends

In Western Europe, from the eighties onwards, production and consumption of food has become increasingly politicized. In the fifties, sixties and seventies, one can say that, at least with respect to the ethical values and goals of the food system, there was a large, implicit consensus across various stakeholder communities, including consumers: food was not seen to be a political and ethically controversial issue. Nothing political could happen with food; the only ethical issue that was at stake was food shortages in various parts of the world mostly due to misdistribution of food. Food was essentially seen as “fuel” that could be made available for consumption in larger or smaller quantities, and could be unsafe to eat , but consideration was generally given to other issues. This consensus was a mainly result of the food security problems facing Europe in the first half of the 20th century.

One of the first reports on the genetic modification of food products is still written with this paradigmatic background in ...