The science of the microbiome is exciting and disrupting, with far-reaching consequences for our health and well-being. It is also rapidly commercialised by providers of direct-to-consumer microbiome testing (DTC- MT). Food and diet feature prominently in these services, with microbiome-tailored dietary interventions being marketed as the pathway to a healthier gut, and, subsequently, a healthier self. The practices of DTC-MT both fuel and are fuelled by a narrative of self-management as empowerment; upon closer inspection, however, this promise proves hollow and (...) problematic. In this work, we seek ways to engage citizens with the technology of microbiome testing while resisting the dominant narrative that accompanies it. Our efforts materialised in “Food stories for the microbiome”, a public engagement initiative about the dynamic nature of the gut microbiome and its strong connections to food and culture. The innovative aspects of this initiative are both methodological and thematic. Methodologically, we employ a distinctive hands-on (i.e. embodied and emotional) approach to public engagement. Thematically, we introduce a deliberate cultural frame to the citizens’ initial encounter with microbiome testing. As a first exercise towards a more critical encounter with microbiome testing, “Food stories for the microbiome” shows that it is possible to engage citizens with an emerging scientific topic of societal relevance on equalitarian terms. Clinical trial number: not applicable. (shrink)

Street food vendors (SFVs) play a crucial role in feeding billions of people daily, contributing to employment and the informal economy globally. However, their potential is hindered by challenges related to unwholesome packaging, storage, preparation, and handling practices, posing unsafe food to consumers due to low compliance with recommended food safety practices. It was imperative to understand the factors influencing SFVs extent of compliance with food safety practices especially in Urban Ghana, since their services have become part of urban social (...) life. We employed a multistage sampling approach to close this gap by drawing data from 720 SFVs in Greater Accra, Bono, and the Northern regions of Ghana. We analyzed the data using a compliance score calculator and ordered probit regression. We found that, years of education, business location, business registration, vending experience, food handlers’ certificates, inspection frequency, vendor association, and credit access were significant predictors of SFVs extent of compliance with food safety practices. This study therefore recommends that government strengthens existing institutional frameworks to ensure effective coordination among stakeholders in carrying out their roles. Effective collaboration among key bodies such as the Food and Drugs Authority, local governments (MDAs and MMDAs), and public health units is essential for effective monitoring, supervision, training, and public awareness of food safety practices. Strengthening these efforts will enhance compliance while allowing policymakers to determine the appropriate leadership and implementation approach. Notwithstanding, future research could look at how compliance with food safety practices among SFVs improves profitability. (shrink)

Citizens frequently judge animal welfare based on the assumed emotional impact on the animal and therewith the demands placed on animal husbandry. This study examines the perception of emotions and needs of cows and calves from a social and agricultural perspective, and whether farmers perceive the consumers’ right to have a say. Therefore, qualitative interviews with 15 farmers and 15 citizens were conducted. Both groups attributed a wide range of emotions to cows and calves but evaluated the resulting needs and (...) the influence of emotions differently. Citizens viewed cows and calves as social and sensitive beings, with the bond between mother and calf taking center stage. This leads to the need for contact between mother and calf. In addition, important needs are seen in the husbandry environment, which also represents the main lever for influencing emotions for citizens. Farmers saw more opportunities to influence the emotions more in the direct daily contact with the animals and through health management and stress-free handling Farmers further believed that citizens have limited ability to accurately assess the emotions of cattle and rejected the idea of citizens having an influence on future housing systems. In turn, citizens attribute a high level of competence to farmers. This study contributes to a better understanding of the role that the perceived emotions and needs of cows and calves play in the perception and evaluation of dairy farming systems and how differences in views on conflict issues such as cow–calf separation can arise. (shrink)

By introducing the possibility of producing meat either from plants or from animal stem cells, technological innovations have opened the door to considering meat as an artefactual object, defined by the functions it is designed to perform. Under this interpretation, plant-based and cultivated meat would be regarded as full-fledged meat. By analysing the notion of artefactuality, this paper reviews the main definitions of “artefact” and evaluates whether meat meets these criteria. It then examines whether a functional account of meat aligns (...) with the development of functions in the philosophy of artefacts. Ultimately, the paper concludes that, like certain other food categories, “meat” is well suited to be interpreted as a functional concept apt to incorporate novel instances. (shrink)

This essay proposes that some thick ethical concepts can cross practices of science, art and politics, reinforcing each other and coming to affect humans, animals and natural environments. This is illustrated through the case of Nazi biopolitics and necropolitics. The essay adds to Bauman’s analysis of National Socialism as a modern ‘purity-pursuit’ (1997) by considering how ideas of the ‘pure’, and the ‘natural’, ‘organic’ and ‘wild’ were promoted through Nazi art, science and politics. I propose that these thick ethical concepts (...) became normatively ladened articulations of what is true, beautiful and just, identified with the ‘Germanic’ and ‘Aryan’. Thus, Nazism is analysed as a modern ‘purity-naturalness-organicness-and-wilderness-pursuit’. This argument is supported through a critical analysis of empirical material, selected to represent the artistic, scientific and political discourses of National Socialist ideology. The study further speaks to a current societal challenge. Nazi environmental policy promoted regenerative farming, nature preservation and restoration and Nazi officials encouraged vegetarianism. In today’s climate-changing world these actions appear eerily ‘advanced’, aligning with projects for meat reduction like the Planetary Health Diet, rewilding, or restoring and preserving biodiversity. The essay asks whether notions of the ‘pure’, ‘natural’ and ‘wild’, or ‘organic’ have the potential to drive climate action, reflecting on today's far-right ecologisms. (shrink)

This paper critically examines the ethical discourse surrounding cultivated meat and fish, arguing that it has largely remained confined to theoretical or speculative discussions, neglecting the practical and evolving implications of this emerging technology—particularly in relation to the continued involvement of animals in its production. I demonstrate that a significant gap exists in the assessment of the impact on animal bodies during cell harvesting and cultivation, leading to a distorted or incomplete understanding of the normative dimensions of this innovation. The (...) paper further addresses the often-overlooked issue of “animal futures,” particularly the treatment of animals post-biopsy, and the ethical concerns surrounding the breeding of animals specifically for stem cell production. It critiques the lack of foresight in current ethical discussions, which fail to adequately consider the long-term lives of animals involved in the production of cultivated meat. Advocating for a more comprehensive ethical framework, the paper calls for a deeper, more nuanced consideration of both the immediate and future welfare of these animals. In doing so, the paper stresses that ethical reflection should not be an afterthought but an integral part of technological development—one that must influence both its design and its evolution. Through this analysis, the paper aims to contribute meaningfully to the ongoing discourse on the ethics of cultivated meat, urging a rethinking of the relationship between technological progress and animal welfare and rights. (shrink)

A well-known adage says that we are what we eat; yet many scholars have pointed out that it is more likely the case that we eat what we are, or more accurately, we eat according to who we are. Instead of expressing our identity through the choice of food we eat, I argue instead that it is more likely that our identity does and should determine how we choose our food. More specifically, I argue that identity choice entails a level (...) of identity commitment, such that when our choice is not available for any reason, we can maintain our identity through alternative choices which can maintain our identity. I argue further that this identity commitment regarding food choice is an ethical one: it is about authenticity of one’s own choice. Thus, I disagree with the recent argument by Zachary Tobias and Jill Dieterle (Tobias and Dieterle, Food Ethics 8(1):8, 2023), which claims that limitations on food choice lead to an erosion of one’s identity. While it is indeed the case that external factors can interfere with one’s own food choice, I argue that the premise that food choice entails a level of commitment has an implication that one has a duty to oneself to maintain one’s chosen identity when external factors are not optimal. In order to support the claim, I discuss the case of villagers in northeastern Thailand, who prefer to eat raw freshwater fish, which often contain parasites that can cause a serious disease. Despite various attempts by public health authorities to educate the villagers about the dangers, they continue eating the fish, nonetheless, thus showing a clear sign of commitment to their own identity. I compare this case with the cases in contemporary Western society and use it to show that it is possible for a group of people to continue to maintain their identity through their food, despite attempts to curtail their behavior. When a group of people or an individual is committed to their identity, they usually can find ways to circumvent the limitations to maintain their identity. (shrink)

This article documents the historical development of the calory and its application in international measurement of undernutrition. It provides an empirical account of the origins of caloric measurement as a scientific instrument, its uptake into international statistics on undernutrition produced by the League of Nations and the United Nations, and eventual use in monitoring global development goals. The historical analysis explores and discusses how a dialectic of care and control is embedded in macrosocial measurement of hunger: Caloric statistics have served (...) as a condition of possibility for states and international agencies to render food systems governable through constituting a novel form of legibility that pushed the frontiers for modern schemes of top-down intervention and control. Such measurements have furthermore served as a vital resource to legitimize and justify the ambitions of the UN and modern development agenda, serving to establish and shape grand narratives of humanity’s progress under different food regimes. Based on this historical analysis, the article provides a normative and epistemic argument for centring the perspectives and knowledges of those affected by hunger in the enumeration of nutrition and food security. Such democratic agency should however not just be an object of measurement but be leveraged through participatory methodologies that draw upon the voices of the food insecure to better capture the multidimensional nature of food security through numbers. (shrink)

Food insecurity is one of the most significant challenges facing the global population. A major aspect of food security is the provision of a sufficient protein intake of adequate nutritive value. Currently, wheat, maize, and rice correspond to approximately half of the global plant-based protein intake. As these foods/crops are dietary staples globally, they are central to discussions on food and protein security. Here we argue that protein security is highly affected by the availability of diverse plant protein sources, and (...) we briefly investigate the complicated nexus that forms amongst the aforementioned staple crops, crop diversification, and protein security. Our work emphasizes the importance of incorporating protein-rich alternative crops as part of broader agricultural diversification strategies to strengthen protein security. Policies that aspire to promote alternative crops should address agricultural diversification at all levels, account all the actors of the agrifood value chain, and prevent cooptation by the “Colossi” of the agrifood sector. (shrink)

In response to the urgent need to foster sustainable and just transitions toward fairer and healthier food systems, cities and their networks are leading creative interventions. This article presents the case study of FoodLab Sydney, an Australian not-for-profit kitchen incubator that foregrounds ethical principles in training and supporting a diverse range of fledgling food entrepreneurs. It is designed according to a theory of change that combines an approach to food with issues of economic participation and broader social inclusion. This article (...) shares the conception, planning, implementation, and outcomes of the program. These include opportunities for participants from vulnerable communities to develop vocational and business skills and to build strong networks. For many it has improved their capacity to develop and advance business plans or find employment within the food industry and contribute to an expanding network of ethical food actors. The FoodLab Sydney case study joins international examples of food business and kitchen incubators such as FoodLab Detroit and La Cocina as models for supporting community-based microenterprise development with positive social, economic, and environmental benefits. (shrink)

We argue for the existence of a moral dilemma– the ‘Puzzle of Lab-Grown Meat’– which challenges those who would endorse the moral permissibility of eating lab-grown meat, such as lab-grown chicken. The puzzle is that it is unclear why the moral permissibility of eating lab-grown meat should not extend to all lab-grown meat, such as white rhino or human, yet intuitively, we consider such meat morally impermissible to consume. To reject this challenge forces an endorsement of one of two implausibly (...) strong positions: either that all lab-grown meat is morally impermissible to eat or that all lab-grown meat is morally permissible to eat. To accept this challenge, is to attempt to solve the puzzle by providing a morally relevant distinction between ‘fair-game’ and ‘off-limits’ lab-grown meat. We consider a range of solutions but argue that each fails to solve the puzzle. (shrink)

Food sovereignty discourse is gaining attention, yet it is open to contradicting interpretations as to its capacity to address systemic injustices of the corporate food regimes. In our attempt to contribute to a better understanding of food sovereignty and promote awareness within a hegemonic food system that is hostile to alternative economies, we acknowledge that a radical shift is needed in the way we imagine, frame and narrativize our food system and our role within it. Drawing from both global social (...) movements and the rise of social and solidarity initiatives in crisis-ridden Greece reclaiming local and autonomous food systems, we rely on three concepts to develop knowledge co-creation: food sovereignty understood as the universal right to food, food commoning practices, and participatory research processes for food sustainability. We proceed further with the creation of a ‘Training of Trainers’ team engaging instructors involved in both formal and non-formal education in Greece to co-design a game-based educational tool on food sovereignty through serious gaming workshops. Key findings that emerge from this participatory research project include: the development of a shared language on food that questioned power inequalities; the idea of a community both autonomous and interdependent so as to achieve food sovereignty; and the role of collective imaginaries in allowing for diverse economies and alternative visions to emerge. Participation in a process of collective reflection challenged existing stereotypes, reimagined economy and community development and proved to be, in itself, a transformative approach to knowledge and an act of social change. (shrink)

Issues with current food systems have been problematised through various lenses, including concerns about the dominance of intensively produced animal-source foods (ASFs) or ultra-processed foods (UPFs) in diets on health, environmental sustainability and/or justice grounds. In this commentary, we argue that there is value in adopting a more common framing and approach for these food systems issues based on the understanding that ASFs and UPFs are interlinked manifestations of financialised food systems prioritising the interests of a select few large corporations (...) and their shareholders. Firstly, we outline some of the common drivers of the proliferation of UPFs and ASFs in current food systems, including a regulatory environment that prioritises the interests of large corporations and financiers above other considerations. Based on ecological regulation theory, we then propose multi-sectoral policy options and collective actions to improve both human and planetary health. These include (but are not limited to): re-orienting agricultural subsidies toward more agroecological operations; prioritising equity-focused measures, such as a universal basic income; land use value taxes; and revitalising competition policy to address agri-food industry consolidation. Implementing the proposed actions will likely require strong coordination and advocacy from various civil society groups. We suggest that a framing centred on financialised food systems may create space for allies to mobilise and effectively draw on collective resources, including public health, food sovereignty alliances, labour unions, farmers, small-scale agri-food businesses and retailers, consumer groups, animal welfare groups, governments without vested interests, and intergovernmental organisations. (shrink)