Eat ethically or die.

Just a few years ago, many people frowned upon the slogan "ethical food". What do values ​​have to do with dinner? Many whistleblowers around the world expose the practices of large corporations and growers. They show how much food production actually costs (us). More and more people consciously choose products with the "fair trade" label.

Bloody avocado.

Once considered an exquisite delicacy, today it is available in every supermarket. Sure, we value avocados for their richness in vitamins E and K and the content of precious fats. At the same time, we like its delicate taste and consistency. Avocado tastes great both as chocolate mousse and as guacamole. But its farming is ruining the environment and forcing Chilean farmers to - literally - steal water from drying rivers. There is a regular fight for water in this country , which is needed in huge quantities for growing avocados. It takes almost 300 liters of water to grow 0.5 kg of this green delicacy. Farmers stealing water from rivers increases the risk of droughts and fires. Farmers are ruining rivers and destroying forests. D eforestation is reaching alarming proportions, for example in the Mexican state of Michoacán, which cuts down 20,000 a year to export 1 million tons of avocados. hectares of forests.

People suffer too. To grow the most beautiful fruit, producers use pesticides. This affects the health of farmers and their families. Local drug cartels are also involved in the avocado trade, and the supply chain is very long. Advice? We can't fix the whole world. However, if we choose fruit that grows closer to us and has an inconspicuous "fair trade" sticker, our conscience will be clearer.

The palm tree reflects the nuts.

Peanut butter, chocolate spreads... The world loves them, but - fortunately - it is increasingly critical of how melt-in-your-mouth delicacies are created. The first question is: does it contain palm oil ? If so, we have a problem. Big. Palm oil and the way it is obtained is one of the reasons why the earth is suffocating. Thousands of hectares of forests are going under the knife.

Second: nuts. This is a topic for a separate article, because depending on the type, we are talking about a whole catalog of broken rights. In the case of California almonds, it is about water, and Turkish hazelnuts - about the use of child labor. In the case of cashew nuts - about human rights violations, for example in Vietnam. Solution? You can get involved in activist work, but not everyone has the time and enthusiasm. So you can buy locally : in Poland, walnuts and hazelnuts. Healthy, delicious and... ethical. And peanut butter? You can make them at home - without plastic and glass.

Cows that warm the climate.

Almost 18% - livestock farming is responsible for this portion of greenhouse gas emissions in the world. As much as 80% of this comes from cow and sheep breeding. Intestinal fermentation (gases released during digestion) is responsible for this. In this way, ruminant animals produce almost 3 gigatonnes of methane annually. This is the gas that has a much greater global warming impact than carbon dioxide. One third of the world's agricultural land is used to feed these animals. Do you think this is not enough to give up steaks or buy those from carefully selected farms if we do not want to completely give up meat? Think of chickens crammed into cages. Not only are their beaks cut off, but the small male chickens are immediately killed. Brutal.

The list of products that often cost the health and life of not only animals, but ultimately all of us, is long. Let's take a closer look at the banal cocoa that we drink so eagerly. More than two million children work on cocoa farms in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire. Therefore, when choosing your favorite products, it is really worth considering.

What does it mean to eat ethically?

If you think that ethical eating has something to do with morality, you are right. Ethical eating addresses the moral consequences of our choices. It is about the effects on both people involved in the production or breeding process, as well as animals and the planet . Good, ethical food is food that has been produced with respect for the environment. Respecting animal rights, maintaining balance in distribution and fair pay for employees or workers. All this also contributes to caring for the environment. The whole phenomenon of ethical eating is part of the trend of ethical consumption, which has become increasingly popular in recent years. This is especially true in times when the climate crisis is becoming more and more loud. The price we are already paying, for example for our preference for eating meat in large quantities, is very high.

There has been a lot of talk in Poland lately about the speeches of MEP Sylwia Spurek , known for her fight for animal rights. She proposes a ban on advertising eggs and dairy products and wants to introduce a ban on industrial animal breeding and fishing. The argument is that there is no "humane killing". And even though "unethical products" still occupy the top places on Poles' shopping lists, our approach is slowly changing. More and more people are switching to flexitarianism, a diet that is good for human health and the environment. You can read more about it here.

Bibliography:

1. “Ethical food choices”, Food Empowerment Project, foodispower.org, accessed November 15, 2021.
2. “What is food ethics. A short explainer”, Food Ethics Council, foodethicscouncil.org, accessed November 15, 2021.
3. Finney C., “To eat or not to eat: 10 of the world's most controversial foods,” The Guardian, November 20, 2019.