Photo taken at Farmers on the Square in downtown Carlisle, PA

Food Ethics

In our last two classes of the semester, we discussed the topic of food ethics. This proved to be a much more complex theme to tackle than I had previously expected. I can start by introducing one question we discussed in class, “What does a welcoming food environment look like?” Some examples that were mentioned were providing a variety of choices and access to food that adheres to culturally diverse dietary needs. Others include affordable prices and having producers and vendors from different backgrounds. I would also say a welcoming food environment means having access to healthy food in all neighborhoods, not just wealthier ones, so as to abolish food deserts. Would you add anything to this list of what a welcoming food environment looks like?

In one of our readings, it is stated that it is critical to switch to a less meat-heavy diet for the sustainability of the planet and that this switch relies on consumer behavior to influence sustainable food systems (Dagevos & Onwezen, 2025). Unfortunately, these alternative food practices are difficult to implement. This brings up the idea of ethical eating. This is defined as, “people purchasing and using products and resources according not only to the personal pleasures and values they provide but also to ideas of what is morally right and good” (Johnston et al., 2011). It is promoted as a desirable, healthy lifestyle and a way to protect the environment. However, these practices and healthy alternative foods are more expensive and therefore geared towards a higher, more elite economic class. Ethical eating is overall a good idea, however it comes from a privileged perspective of eating that makes it harder for marginalized groups to participate.

Photo taken at Farmers on the Square in downtown Carlisle, PA

Ethical Eating as an Exclusionary Practice

We addressed critiques of practices of food justice brought up by Slocum in our reading, that involved white privilege and a lack of addressing racial inequality beyond a vague mention of it. Eating food that is healthy and good for the environment is expensive and often inaccessible to communities of color. We talked about this within the context of collective trauma of systemic racism (Slocum & Cadieux, 2015). This contributes to the idea that participating in alternative food systems, such as farmers markets and CSA programs, is an exclusionary practice geared towards white people. Whiteness in the food system manifests in two ways brought up in our reading by Guthman. This includes colorblindness, the absence of acknowledging racial differences for fear of being racist, and universalism, the assumption that values held by white people are normal and widely shared (Guthman, 2011). When farmers market and CSA managers were asked about the participation of people of color in their programs, they said they want everyone to be able to come to their markets to buy food. However this puts the blame on communities of color. Reasons for non-white people not participating gets attributed to cultural differences, marking them as other, rather than to the problems of accessibility embedded in food justice systems (Guthman, 2011).

There is a problematic dichotomy of rich and ethical practices opposing poor and unethical practices. However, poorer families are not necessarily unethical in their eating practices. They are more worried about feeding themselves and their families. Walking around at my own local farmers market, I do often notice the people there are mostly white. This makes me want to critique these systems as perpetuating issues of racism and inaccessibility. Next time you are shopping for food take a second to think about if that environment is inclusive of shoppers from all backgrounds.

References

Cadieux, K. V., & Slocum, R. (2015). What does it mean to do food justice? Journal of Political Ecology, 22(3), 1–26.

Dagevos, H., & Onwezen, M. C. (2025). Toward consumer-focused food policies: a toolbox for encouraging the protein transition. Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, 21(1), 1–15.

Guthman, J. (2011). “ If They Only Knew ” The Unbearable Whiteness of Alternative Food . In A. H. Alkon & J. Agyeman (Eds.), Cultivating Food Justice: Race, Class, and Sustainability (pp. 263–281). MIT Press.

Johnston, J., Szabo, M., & Rodney, A. (2011). Good food, good people: Understanding the cultural repertoire of ethical eating. Journal of Consumer Culture, 11(3), 293–318. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540511417996

Slocum, R., & Cadieux, K. V. (2015). Notes on the practice of food justice in the U.S.: Understanding and confronting trauma and inequity. Journal of Political Ecology, 22(2), 27–52.