Ethics in nutrition

The new trends and habits that have prevailed in recent years in nutrition and gastronomy, which are applied massively and worldwide, make us worry about the planet’s future and the sufficiency of raw materials. The question is asked by many: are there ethics in nutrition?

This is how movements such as Slow Food were born, which, based on the planet, the environment, and people, prioritise raw materials and study the path of each product from its production process until it reaches our plate.

Food waste. What are the official figures?

Today, when the World Community is supposed to be moving towards a better future, based on the research of the same organisation, food that is lost and wasted represents 38% of the total use in the global food system, i.e., 1.5 billion. tonnes of food.

At the same time, as incredible as it may seem, with all the knowledge, wealth, and systematisation of human production and nutrition, according to the U.N. and U.N. reports, approximately 29.3% of the Earth’s population (828 million people) suffers from hunger!

Zero waste. Isn’t this a positive step for the planet?

This trend is not something new. On the contrary, it is imposed on us by nature due to climate change and the results we already have from the “abuse” that nature has suffered by man.

Humans, like every living organism, must be fed to live; in nature, nothing is wasted; everything is at the service of survival. What modern people recently “discovered” as food waste, or waste in general, exists on the planet as the cycle of life for billions of years.

All the new trends that have either started to become habits or are in the stage of experimentation and processing claim to be environmentally friendly but are completely removed from the natural production process as they are products of laboratory or industrial processing.

How “friendly” to the environment and people’s health can a food that has undergone total processing, from which all nutrients have been removed and others have been artificially added?

How then do we talk about climate change and air pollution from animal farming and not talk about the industrialization of these farms, the waste from these food factories, or the pollution and responsibility of the heavily industrialised countries?

Instead of going to these solutions, there is the Thessalian Plain, which studies show is becoming deserted, which could produce large quantities of fruit and vegetables in a completely sustainable way through smart agriculture.

Protein: How does reducing its consumption benefit the planet? Is what we hear being said a myth?

First of all, a question of justice is raised here. On the one hand, there are populations in rich countries that suffer from the reckless use of protein, which is linked to cardiovascular diseases and premature deaths. On the other hand, it is the developing countries that suffer from a lack of protein.

It is not exactly a myth to talk about reducing meat consumption.

The high consumption of meat is found in highly developed countries with dangerous uses for health and the environment. If we now add up the waste, we very easily come to the original question of the justice of the distribution of protein, which is important to start talking about. If all of us satiated people cut back on meat a little, the people suffering from hunger worldwide (828 million people) will find something to eat too.

Monocultures: how much are they harming the planet?

Let’s recall some tragic events, such as the fires in the Amazon, the destruction of the Paraguayan forests, the looting of the arable lands of the still-warring Ukraine for a piece of bread, and the desertification of the African lands.

What is all this you say, but let’s consider that in the Amazon, the burned lands were filled with palm trees, in Paraguay, with soybeans, and the lands in Ukraine, Monsanto, Cargill, and Du Pont, filled them with genetically modified legumes, grains, and soybeans. It has now been proven that monocultures are killing the planet, destroying fertile areas and biodiversity, contributing to climate change, and creating hunger and poverty.

The global food crisis: what does it consist of? How is it solved?

The WEF The Global Risks Report 2023 has 116 references to “food,”  as opposed to the seven references to the word “food” in the WEF 2022 report. This means that the cost of living crisis is considered by experts to be the most pressing global risk for the next two years.

The solutions given by the experts are essentially a return to more sustainable solutions and techniques that have been abandoned for years due to the industrialization of societies. “Investing in healthy soils and innovating to decarbonise food value chains will build carbon pools, improve nutrient density, reduce food losses, and strengthen jobs and farmers’ livelihoods, especially the 500 million small farmers who are at the forefront of this crisis.“.

Shaping the new agenda regarding the future of our food system, through specific actions that contribute to sustainable and sustainable food production, the protection of biodiversity, the conservation of natural resources, and the reduction of waste, in strengthening producers and local economies, but also in informing and educating consumers on issues related to balanced and proper nutrition and health protection.

I believe that we have a moral responsibility towards the consumer society to insist on the locality of the products we use, thus actively contributing to the support of local economies and realising their role not only in saving our food culture but also in its evolution.

After all, is there ethics in nutrition? And how could it be implemented?

If we want to be realistic, in the world we live in—I mean the planet—the sustenance of all creatures rests on only one thing: death. Whether we talk about animals or plants, everything that exists and is consumed on the planet is based on it. It’s called the life cycle, and it’s not immoral. 

We eat to live, and in this process we take lives, as at some point death will take our own life and we will become food for some other organisms. Animals in nature do not have such concerns and needs. But here we are talking about another kind of morality: that of inequality, injustice, selfishness, and profit at any price. We don’t want this “ethics”; it doesn’t suit today’s conditions, knowledge, and culture.

We consider it ethical and very important to understand that now the concepts of sustainable development, biodiversity, conservation of natural resources, and protection of the planet are basic criteria in the choice of our food. When we choose local products, we contribute to the development and prosperity of the place, the reward of the producer’s labour, and the preservation of rural life.

Is it ethical to consume quinoa as a healthy food by emptying the plates of the people of the Andes? Is a meat substitute containing bamboo fibre preferable? Does it make sense to discuss artificially produced meat while the mountains are being desolated by overgrazing?

• We should eat all-natural foods in moderation according to our needs.
• Avoid processed foods.
• For a healthier nutrition choose food products correctly according to their locality, quality, and seasonality.
• A tomato in its season is explosively delicious and goes well with the local green cheese and extra virgin olive oil.
• Products produced in one place create ideal taste combinations. We cook simply with natural raw materials.
• We buy from producers.
• We enjoy food, and food should have a taste.
• When we share food with our loved ones, it becomes tastier.
• And we don’t forget the wise economy of our traditional recipes.