Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics PDF
Preview Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics
Paul B. Thompson David M. Kaplan Editors Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics 1 3 Reference Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics Paul B. Thompson (cid:129) David M. Kaplan Editors Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics With29Figuresand26Tables Editors PaulB.Thompson DavidM.Kaplan DepartmentofPhilosophy DepartmentofPhilosophyandReligion MichiganStateUniversity UniversityofNorthTexas EastLansing,MI,USA Denton,TX,USA ISBN978-94-007-0928-7 ISBN978-94-007-0929-4(eBook) ISBN978-94-007-1853-1(printandelectronicbundle) DOI10.1007/978-94-007-0929-4 SpringerNewYorkHeidelbergDordrechtLondon LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2014950635 #SpringerScience+BusinessMediaDordrecht,2014 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeor part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,recitation,broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorinanyotherphysicalway, andtransmissionorinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware, orbysimilarordissimilarmethodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped.Exemptedfromthis legalreservationarebriefexcerptsinconnectionwithreviewsorscholarlyanalysisormaterial suppliedspecificallyforthepurposeofbeingenteredandexecutedonacomputersystemfor exclusiveusebythepurchaserofthework.Duplicationofthispublicationorpartsthereofis permitted only under the provisions of the Copyright Law of the Publisher’s location, in its currentversion,andpermissionforusemustalwaysbeobtainedfromSpringer.Permissionsfor usemaybeobtainedthroughRightsLinkattheCopyrightClearanceCenter.Violationsareliable toprosecutionundertherespectiveCopyrightLaw. Theuseofgeneraldescriptivenames,registerednames,trademarks,servicemarks,etc.inthis publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesare exemptfromtherelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse. Whiletheadviceandinformationinthisbookarebelievedtobetrueandaccurateatthedateof publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibilityforanyerrorsoromissionsthatmaybemade.Thepublishermakesnowarranty, expressorimplied,withrespecttothematerialcontainedherein. Printedonacid-freepaper SpringerispartofSpringerScience+BusinessMedia(www.springer.com) Preface When we met with our coeditors and representatives of Springer in May 2010 to begin conceptualizing the Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics,wewerethinkingalongthelinesofsomethingthatwouldbeacross between a traditional general-interest encyclopedia and a “handbook.” We envisionedaworkthatwouldhelpscholarsandrelativelyadvancedstudents obtainaquickintroductiontotheissuesandthepublishedliteraturethatwas mostrelevanttoabroadrangeofissuesintheethicsoffoodandagriculture. Wetook“ethics”toimplythoughtfulandscholarlystudiesonthenormative dimension of topics rather than rubrics or remonstrations on right action. We wanted to create a resource for those interested in learning more about the ethical dimension of food and agriculture rather than a collection of argumentsforparticularethicalpositions. All areas in practical ethics suffer from a deep ambiguity of this kind. On the one hand, for many people, ethics simply implies an uncomplicated matter of doing the right thing. “Being ethical” would be understood in contrastto blatantly unethical actions such as the intentional contamination ofChinesemilkproducts(includinginfantformula)withmelaminein2008. Nooneneedsscholarlyresearchtounderstandwhythisactionwasunethical, just as no one needs philosophy to explain why it is wrong to leave farm animalstosufferanddiefromalackoffeedandwater.Ontheotherhand,the circumstances that lead to these blatantly unethical actions can be better understood (and hopefully prevented) through careful research on the insti- tutionsandincentivesfacedbyhumanactors.Ethicalanalysiscanshedlight onhowethicalsituationscomeaboutandwhatwemightdoinresponse. In addition, there are some topics whose ethical dimensions are less obvious such as biofuel production and international trade regulations. Thesetopicsrequirecarefulresearchandanalysistorevealtheethicalissues. Sometimes, they are beset with contradictory and conflicting views on why andevenwhetherissuesofrightandwrongareinvolvedatall.Itisthesecase examplesthatgiverisetoscholarshipbyphilosophers,socialscientists,and agricultural specialists. The Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics wasconceivedtoprovideoverviewsoftheworkthathadalreadybeendone on key areas of practice in food and agricultural systems of production, distribution, and consumption. The aim was to facilitate more and better scholarshipinallaspectsofthefield. Andso,weenteredtheprojectwiththeexpectationthatitwouldbealong andarduousprocesstorecruitauthorsandtocompileavolumeofthescope v vi Preface thatthesubjectdeserved.Thevolumethatemergedhasmetourexpectations inmanyrespects;yet,therearetwowaysinwhichtheoriginalvisionhasbeen significantlyaltered. First, many of the topics that we placed on the original list had far less existing scholarship than we expected. There is still a lack of scholarly maturity in the field of food and agricultural ethics. The problem we faced isthatanencyclopediaisaworkoftertiaryliterature.Itshouldcontainneither research(primaryliterature)norreviewarticlessummarizingoriginalpapers (secondaryliterature).Itshouldinsteadsummarizeestablishedinformationin the field. As editors, we found ourselves in the unfortunate position of too littletoedit.Worse,wehadtoexcludefineworksoforiginalethicsscholar- shipmoreappropriateforajournalsuchasSpringer’sJournalofAgricultural and Environmental Ethics than for a reference work. It is our hope that today’soriginalscholarshiponfoodandagriculturalethicswillsoondevelop asecondaryliteraturethatdeservesitsownencyclopediaentry. Second,thecontinuedgrowthofdigitalpublishinghasshapedoureditorial practiceinwaysthatwedidnotfullyanticipate.Whileelectronicaccesswas acrucialaspectoftheoriginaldesign,wedidnotfullyappreciatetheimpact ofthisformatonthetimelinessofcontent.Asthefirstentriesbegantotrickle induring2011and2012,webegantorealizethatthepaceofscholarship(and oftheissuesthemselves)threatenedtodatesomeveryfineentriesbythetime thattheentireeditionwouldbedone.Itbecameclearthatthecutoffdatefor declaring the encyclopedia to be “complete” and ready for publication was becomingincreasinglyarbitrary.Attheendoftheday,wedecidedthatitwas more important to go to press than to cause further delay in making the fine work that we had already compiled available. Entries will continue to be added, and existing entries will be updated in the online edition. The EncyclopediaofFoodandAgriculturalEthicswillbealivingdocument. August2014 PaulB.Thompson DavidM.Kaplan About the Editors Paul B. Thompson Department of Philosophy, Michigan State University, EastLansing,MI,USA PaulB.ThompsonholdstheW.K.KelloggChairinAgricultural, Foodand CommunityEthicsatMichiganStateUniversityinEastLansing,MI,USA. Heisafoundingmemberofboth,theAgriculture,FoodandHumanValues Society andthe European Societyfor Agriculture and Food Ethics, andhas performed consultancies on food ethics for numerous governmental and internationalorganizations. vii viii AbouttheEditors David M. Kaplan Department of Philosophy and Religion, University of NorthTexas,Denton,TX,USA DavidM.KaplanisAssociateProfessorintheDepartmentofPhilosophyand Religion at the University of North Texas. He previously held a position at PolytechnicUniversity,Brooklyn.HeiscurrentlytheDirectorofthePhilos- ophyofFoodprojectattheUniversityofNorthTexas(www.food.unt.edu). Associate Editors LisaHeldkeGustavusAdolphusCollege,St.Peter,MN,USA LisaHeldkeisProfessorofPhilosophyatGustavusAdolphusCollege,where shealsoteachesGender,Women,andSexualityStudies.Sheistheauthoror coeditoroffourbooksonthephilosophyoffood,includingExoticAppetites: RuminationsofaFoodAdventurer;Cooking,Eating,Thinking:Transforma- tive Philosophies of Food; and Philosophers at Table (forthcoming; with RaymondD.Boisvert). ix
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