Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics

1890 Pages·2014·20.5 MB·English

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
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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
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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.
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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).
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