"Sustainability has become an issue widely debated in many countries. Given the central role of food supply and the emotional relationship that modern mankind still has to its food, sustainability is seen as a value which has to be maintained throughout food supply chains. The complexity of modern food systems invokes a variety of ethical implications which emerge from contrasts between ideals, perceptions and the conditions of technical processes within food systems, and the concerns connected to this. This book covers a broad range of aspects within the general issue of sustainable food production and ethics. Linking different academic disciplines, topics range from reflections about the roots of sustainability and the development of concepts and approaches to globalisation and resilience of food systems as well as specific ethical aspects of organic farming and animal welfare. Modern technologies which are intensely advocated by certain stakeholder groups and their societal challenges are addressed, as are many other specific cases of food production and processing, consumer perception and marketing."

Global food is not a nice business. It is controlled by a small cartel of unscrupulous, profit-grubbing multinationals with little or no regard for the consumer, their workers or the planet. It is an industry riddled by safety scandals, the nutritional quality of our food is in free-fall and diet related illness has now become epidemic. Intensive agriculture is steadily destroying the planet, contaminating water and air with artificial fertilisers and pesticides, degrading farmland, causing deforestation and pumping out greenhouse gases faster than the world's entire transport system. Meanwhile Big Food's rapacious appetite for profit knows no limits as it bribes its way through the 3rd world in a huge land grab, dumping untested GM seed on a new generation of farmer-slaves. But all is not lost! A new movement of real, organic and ethical food is on the brink of a renaissance. Read on to understand how Big Food really works and how to reclaim control over our own food once again.

Distinct practices of eating are at the heart of many of the world's faith traditions -- from the Christian Eucharist to Muslim customs of fasting during Ramadan to the vegetarianism and asceticism practiced by some followers of Hinduism and Buddhism. What we eat, how we eat, and whom we eat with can express our core values and religious devotion more clearly than verbal piety. In this wide-ranging collection, eminent scholars, theologians, activists, and lay farmers illuminate how religious beliefs influence and are influenced by the values and practices of sustainable agriculture. Together, they analyze a multitude of agricultural practices for their contributions to healthy, ethical living and environmental justice. Throughout, the contributors address current critical issues, including global trade agreements, indigenous rights to land and seed, and the effects of postcolonialism on farming and industry. Covering indigenous, Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Muslim, and Jewish perspectives, this groundbreaking volume makes a significant contribution to the study of ethics and agriculture.

Leading experts reveal ways that the future of food production for the world's burgeoning population can (and must) be both sustainable and ethical. In the United States, food is abundant and cheap but loaded with hidden costs to the environment, human health, animal welfare, and the people who work in our food systems. The country's current food production systems lack diversity in crops and animals and are intensified but not sustainable, inhumane in the treatment of animals, and inconsiderate of labor. In order to feed the world's rapidly growing population with high-quality, ethically produced food, new food production systems are urgently needed. These new systems must be genetically diverse and environmentally sustainable, and they need to follow internationally recognized animal welfare and labor practices. Feeding the World Well examines these costs of cheap food while presenting a unique framework for ethical food systems: the Core Ethical Commitments, which are designed to guide consumers in choosing foods that are aligned with their values while helping producers enhance the ethics of their practices and products. Edited by Alan M. Goldberg, the volume features contributions from leading ethicists and food systems experts. Addressing complex issues such as climate change, worker exploitation, obesity, antibiotic resistance, wasted food, and biotechnology, the book discusses the fundamental forces that have shaped, and will continue to shape, our food systems. It also describes some of the approaches that food companies and nonprofit organizations are using to address the ethical challenges facing these food systems. Finally, the book explains what the Core Ethical Commitments are (and what they are not), how they were developed, and how they might be used by food system actors. By bringing together an all-star group of contributors from academia and industry, Feeding the World Well sets a new course for food production and how it is evaluated. By including the voices of industry leaders alongside those of researchers and regulators, the book prepares the food production industry for a world in which "ethical" or "sustainable" production practices are not only trendy but necessary to ensure that we can feed the world's growing population. Conceived as a textbook for food studies courses, this volume will appeal to anyone who is strongly interested in food, including conscious consumers, food industry leaders, researchers, and policy makers. Contributors: Anne Barnhill, Martin W. Bloem, Jonathan Bloom, Nicole M. Civita, Claire Davis, Michiel van Dijk, Adele Douglass, Shauna Downs, Kevin Esvelt, Ruth Faden, Jessica Fanzo, Evan Fraser, Maisie Ganzler, Tara Garnett, Sara Glass, Alan M. Goldberg, Christopher Good, Meredith Kaufman, Gillian Kelleher, Frederick L. Kirschenmann, Herman B. W. M. Koëter, Jennifer Kuzma, Kees van Leeuwen, Robert Martin, Anne E. McBride, Suzanne McMillan, Tom Morley, Marion Nestle, Peter O'Driscoll, Lance B. Price, Marie Luise Rau, Bernard Rollin, Yashar Saghai, Susan A. Schneider, Ellen K. Silbergeld, Paul B. Thompson, Paul Willis, Sylvia Wulf

Gathering some 90 entries from the Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology, this book covers animal breeding and genetics for food, crop science and technology, ocean farming and sustainable aquaculture, transgenic livestock for food and more.

International commitments were made at the World Food Summits in 1996 and 2002 and in the Millennium Development Goals to cut food hunger levels by half by the year 2015. This objective will require the adoption of sustainable agricultural intensification methods that avoid degradation of the earth's natural resources and take into account the needs and livelihoods of rural populations, particularly in developing countries. This publication explores three approaches to an ethical analysis of agricultural intensification strategies, using arguments based on utilitarian, rights-based and virtue-based models.

None of us can avoid being interested in food. Our very existence depends on the supply of safe, nutritious foods. It is then hardly surprising that food has become the focus of a wide range of ethical concerns: Is the food we buy safe? Is it produced by means which respect the welfare of animals and sustain the land? Are modern biotechnologies employed in food production immoral? This book addresses such issues by applying ethical principles to many areas of current concern. The contributors provide original and thought-provoking treatments of a number of highly topical issues - from global hunger and its ethical implications to the cultural habits affecting consumption. This interdisciplinary study will prove to be essential reading for all those concerned with food, as professionals, students or consumers.