Ethical Traceability and Communicating Food

ISBN-13: 9781402085239 / Angielski / Twarda / 2008 / 318 str.

Christian Coff; David Barling; Michiel Korthals

Opis

The theme of this book evolved from the idea of linking three concepts around food: traceability, ethics and informed choice. We believe that the current devel- ment and implementation of traceability in the agri-food sector offers an interesting way not only of handling food safety but also of addressing and communicating ethical issues arising from current food production practices. Practices in the agri-food sector worry food consumers (as we all are, since we need to eat and drink to stay alive). But how can consumers act upon their concerns? Paradoxically, although consumers are bombarded with information on food - from the media, the food industry, food authorities, NGOs and interest groups - details about how foods are actually produced is often hard to find. Much of the infor- tion available is superficial, conflicting or partial, and it is hard for consumers seeking to mak e informed food choices to know which information to trust. The consumers we interviewed for this project felt that information about food products was withheld and manipulated. Traceability, which provides a record of the history and journey of a given food, and which is increasingly used in the food sector for legal and commercial reasons, has the potential to communicate a more authentic picture of how food is produced.

Spis treści

Abbreviations List of tables and figures Contributors Editors’ Preface Foreword Ethical Traceability and Informed Food Choice Introduction;The Emergence of traceability in the food chain;Traceability in contemporary food chains;Ethics, traceability and food;Consumers’ ethical concerns;Informed food choice;The plan of the book;References. PART I Regulation, governance and narrative strategies of food traceability The European Union and the regulation of food traceability: from risk management to informed choice? EU governance and its review;U regulation of traceability;The reform of food safety regulation and food law in the EU: risk management and traceability as control;Food traceability as a relational tool for information, communication and participation;References. Governing and governance in the agri-food sector and traceability From governing to governance;Agri-food governance: the interaction of public and private forms Multi-level governance of food and agriculture;The international governance of agri-food traceability;Conclusion: the governance contexts for realizing ethical traceability;References. Narrative strategies in food advertising Introduction;Four possible narrative strategies of food advertising;Empirical research into narrative strategies used in Italian and Spanishjournals;Narratives and advertising strategies;Implications of advertising strategies for ethical traceability;Conclusion;References. PART II Ethical Traceability in three food supply chains: case studies of Danish bacon, UK wheat-bread and Greek olive oil Ethical traceability in the bacon supply chain Introduction;The Danish pork chain;Danish bacon;Ethical concerns in the pork sector;Traceability and ethical traceability in the chain;Stakeholders’ and consumers’ response to ethical concerns;Communication in the chain;Discussion of findings;References. Ethical traceability in the UK wheat-flour-bread chain Introduction;Wheat into bread: overview of a mature, complex supply chain;Traceability in the chain, and its ethical dimensions;Perspectives on ethical concerns along the chain;Information and communication along the chain;Some conclusions for ethical traceability;References. Traceability and ethical traceability in the Greek olive oil chain Introduction;The Greek olive oil chain;Traceability and ethical traceability in the olive oil chain;Ethical concerns along the olive oil chain;Conclusions on traceability and on ethical traceability in the olive oil chain;References. PART III Ethical Traceability and its philosophical implications for civil society, market, state and democracy Challenges of

Blurb

Traceability – the ability to track a product from farm to plate – is now widely used in the food sector for a range of purposes: it allows companies to improve efficiency, facilitates product recall, and helps producers flag the specific characteristics of their goods. But traceability systems are mainly designed and used by the people directly involved in the food chain. The people at the end of the food chain – food consumers – have little say in which attributes are traced, and can rarely access the information stored in traceability systems.

This book draws on philosophical discourses (like ethics, political philosophy and philosophy of law) around food ethics and empirical research in three important food chains (UK bread, Danish bacon and Greek olive oil) to argue that ethical traceability systems could be used to communicate food information to consumers, allowing them not only to make food choices consistent with their own values, but also to play a more informed role in the way food is produced and distributed. It will appeal to academics, students and policy makers with an interest in traceability, food ethics and food policy.