Is Ethical Food (Really) Ethical?

“Can you really change the world just by buying certain foods?”

This is the question asked in one of the latest issues of The Economist magazine. For the inpatient ones, I must say, the answer is a big NO.

The article gives this answer in 3 parts, stating that organic, fair-trade and local food is not ethical or beneficial in the long-term at all. As a man who has always thought that “organic food” is nothing but a “clear” way to take the “greens” out of the rich & thoughtful (?) and put it right into the dirty pockets of “full bodied” farmers, this is an outstanding article for me.

The contrary thing about this purist movement is their approach that defines what ethical is. Producing without drugs, insecticides or fertilizers is their core value for producing organic food and they have the sound that they do this for the sake of humanity. I think this is so corny, so corny that, a little child wouldn’t buy that. (Literally would not, for the reason that organic food actually, tastes like soil – at least the samples I’ve tried did)

The truth is that, it is nothing but another marketing strategy, designed for those rich I’ve stated above who have so much of those “greens” that they’ll feel healthy and socially responsible by paying 5 or 6 dollars for a tiny case of tiny plums. And there is the output related part of the issue that, even if those guys are really doing it for the good of the mother nature, it would need way much more land than we use know with technological farming, for the reason that it is the 1950s’ farming techniques we are talking about here. It is so clear that, it is impossible to supply enough for the people of 21st century, with this population and consumption level, using those old school ways. And finding that much of a land to crop is a matter of trade-offs. Trade-offs, probably forcing us to sacrifice from our rainforests, as the article correctly points out.

And the other pitfall is that famous “fair-trade” issue. We are talking about a program designed to make poor farmers wealthier by making sure that they receive a fair price for their goods. It is nothing but a wrong interventionist policy, which gives wrong signals to possible market entrants (Coffee example is given in the article) by raising the subsidized good’s price, with a fair-trade markup above the equilibrium market price. And it is also impossible to think that the poor farmers get better with giants selling those fair-trade goods in the market and killing the soul of the policy right from the starting point.

For the local food movement, “Local is the new organic” has become the unofficial slogan of the movement, The Economist says. But what I want to say here is clear, that the only thing you can keep it on local degrees is that old guy with shaky hands who gives you a hair cut. I’ll be passing this issue to the hot shot automobile and oil companies as it awfully smells anti-corporate. And as we have plenty of super markets at every single corner today, it will also be quite inefficient and non-logical to drive to a farm to buy some beans and eggs. (And also it will NOT be “green” at all considering that we are taking a vehicle to that farm)

Instead of these lousy approaches, I’ve always been a keen admirer of the “Supplier Diversity Program” of Kraft Foods Inc. I insist you take a look at it from the link I paste below.

Nothing to do with ethics, every single thing to do with earning more and pretending to be ethical as it (ethics) sells so good when it comes to issues like those above. Nevertheless, I’ll be eating my 3 dollar delicious “ethical” burger as they are trying it hard to prepare a bowl of salad for 15 dollars. And I hope I’ll have a healthier life than those guys, not for the reason that I only consume organic goods, but for the reason that I have the consciousness to eat what, how. (I’m not talking about the recent burger, that’s only an object to create a humorous awareness) So long purists!

P.S.: I suggest you to try to find the issue (December 9th – 15th) and take a look at the article as a whole. That’ll surely create a broader vision for the subject.

RELEVANT LINKS:
http://www.kraft.com/responsibility/cc_supplierdiversity.aspx
http://www.ethicalfoods.co.uk/
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