Ethical considerations in the food chain
There are numerous questions to be discussed which are linked to agricultural ethics. Raw material production, animal husbandry, food production, commercialization and consumption have several ethical aspects. Nevertheless, up to now we have not dealt with ethical issues related to agricultural and...
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| Format: | Article |
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2010
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| Series: | Review of faculty of engineering : analecta technica Szegedinensia
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| Kulcsszavak: | Mérnöki tudományok |
| Online Access: | http://acta.bibl.u-szeged.hu/11827 |
| Summary: | There are numerous questions to be discussed which are linked to agricultural ethics. Raw material production, animal husbandry, food production, commercialization and consumption have several ethical aspects. Nevertheless, up to now we have not dealt with ethical issues related to agricultural and food sciences comprehensively and institutionally. The agricultural ethics must find its proper place in the system of modern ethics along with bioethics. environmental ethics, business ethics and engineering ethics. All of us are interested in foods, their availability, safety, nutritional status and wholesomeness. Our survival, health and welfare depend on the food supply, the production, processing and distribution of safe and healthy foods. In the developed world nowadays the question is not if we have enough to eat but more if the product is of high quality, safe and if it has been produced in a sustainable way while the environment and biodiversity was protected. Owing to the technical and technological accomplishments of the 20th century, the domination of man has immensely grown on the environment. The activities of the participants of the food chain effect not only the natural but the sociocultural environment as well. Has mankind utilised rationally the available natural resources serving as a substantial background for the agricultural production and in this way for its own supply? Does our quality of life improve with our growing wealth? Should we further burden the environment for our economic welfare? What will be the result of wasting the available and nonrenewable resources? Can we meet the increasing demand of consumer society? Must we satisfy these expectations? Who has the right to decide which technology we may apply to achieve these goals? Are we aware of all the possible consequences of the new technology made by us? (Bánáti, 2008). This paper reflects on some topics and questions of agricultural ethics such as global population growth, food security, rural-to-urban migration, ecological footprint, environmental concerns, consumption habits, food waste, biodiversity and new technologies which need more thorough discussion and debating in order to develop a long-term approach for a sustainable agriculture as the safeguard of future generations is needed. Of course, there are further ethical matters such as animal welfare, international trade or the question of bio fuels and brain drain which needs unfolding, however, this paper does not touch on these points. |
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| Physical Description: | 18-22 |
| ISSN: | 1788-6392 |