Musings on sustainable food systems, agriculture vs. agroecology, and more!
One of the classes I am taking at the moment is all about marketing environmentally and socially responsible behavior of firms to consumers, and promoting sustainable products in general. One case study that came up which I found thought-provoking was about choice-editing – how much choice should we give consumers, really? We know that consumers … Continue reading How Much Choice Should Consumers Have?
This little seed catalog has a message for you… … that rings as true today as it did in 1918. Somebody that took it to heart: the former president of Trader Joe’s, who is about to open a store called Daily Table where nutritious products on the verge of expiring will be sold at low … Continue reading Advice from the Past
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWOcP-bXuO8#t=360] This is a good visual reminder of what we talked about before – the huge power of marketing to children, and the consequences such strategies can have if children are convinced to prefer particularly unhealthy products. Check out this post that I wrote a while back for more infos! Edited to add – if … Continue reading "We Know What You Want" – Junk Food and Kids
Close your eyes for a moment and wipe every notion of “it’s this way because it has always been this way” from your mind. Now let’s try a thought experiment. What does a human need to survive? The very basic needs? You’ll probably find three, just as Jose Luis Vivero Pol found in his paper “Food … Continue reading What If Food Were A Common Good? – A Thought Experiment
I’m just back from the most inspiring event and am desperate to recap before I forget anything important. I uploaded enough TED talks here that you should be familiar with the format, but for those of you who don’t know, TED conferences are dedicated to “ideas worth spreading” surrounding a particular topic. TEDx events are … Continue reading Recap: TEDxUppsala University (Theme: Resilience)
Uppsala is setting itself up to be amazing in terms of opportunities to discuss issues of relevance to me both inside and outside of the classroom. I am currently auditing a class called “Environmental and Social Responsibility Marketing”, and the teacher is doing a fantastic job in alerting us to opportunities of events that could … Continue reading Recap: Panel Discussion on "Ethics in Food Consumption"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUtnas5ScSE Once again we see the power of marketing done right – this short film is an ad both for Chipotle (known for its dedication to sourcing only “responsibly raised” chicken, beef and pork that were not treated with antibiotics, live in humane conditions, fed a vegetarian diet and are allowed to display their natural … Continue reading Chipotle Ad Strikes at the Core of the Industrial Food System
This question is discussed over at Civil Eats, where Michael R. Dimock advocates for a framing of the ‘good food movement’ that allies itself strongly with public health advocates and puts public health in center stage. His argument? Part of what makes us human is our ability to think ahead to avoid or reduce … Continue reading Can Public Health Be the Unifying Frame for the Food Movement?
I have not one, but two great links for you today to help you in your consumption decisions. The first one refers to the latest research on fish stocks and gives a (very pretty!) overview of which fish is okay to eat and which stocks we should let recuperate. Click through to get to the … Continue reading New Fish and Meat Guides Help to Choose Responsibly
After it was mentioned in one of my classes, I started wondering… what exactly happened to the much-heralded tax on goods high in saturated fats that Denmark installed at the beginning of 2012? This law was the first time that this relatively drastic step to curb obesity and try to steer healthier eating habits was … Continue reading The Life and Death of the Danish Fat Tax