Designed for a course exploring Global Challenges, this slideshow seeks to inform other about the implications of the food we eat, promote awareness of environmental concerns, and offer advice on how to get involved in this issue.

1. Ethical Food Consumption
How the foods you eat affect the environment and its inhabitants
Brionna Mendoza
Honors 102: Global Challenges

2. What is Ethical Food Consumption?
The phrase “ethical food consumption” refers to
the responsible consumption of food
products
Focus on:
Sustainable practices in areas like transportation
and growing practices
Ethical treatment of workers and animals

3. What Problems Are
Targeted?
Environmental Factors
Pollution stemming from factory farms
and far-flung transportation of food
products
Fair treatment of animals
Factory farms→ unhealthy setting
Fair treatment of workers
safe working conditions
immigrant workers

4. Why Do These Problems Exist?
In the United States, there is an obvious disconnect between consumers and the origins of their food
Popularity of the supermarket:
Ease and convenience of packaged veggies and pre-cut meats
Supermarkets thrive by presenting the illusion of a constant abundance of all types of produce and meats
No one wants to shop in less-than-full produce section that doesn’t stock picture-perfect fruits and veggies!
Consequences:
Massive food waste and unsustainable practices to maintain profits

5. A Closer Look at...Factory Farms
Major source of pollution
concentrated nature of operations→ hundreds
of animals in a small area→ vast amounts of
waste that cannot be disposed in a healthy,
complete way
The 1.4 million California dairy cows produce
as much waste as 28-56 million people per
day
solid waste can pollute environment
methane released from the cows exacerbate
global warming
Despite clear hazards, factory farming
Image source:
http://www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/shocking-facts-on-
how-factory-farms-cause-water-pollution/

6. A Closer Look at...Transportation of Food
Use of planes, trains, trucks, rail to transport
food intranationally and internationally adds
tons of pollution to the environment and
wastes energy
Average American-prepped meal contains
ingredients that source from at least 5
different countries
Food miles: the distance food travels from
where it grows to where is is ultimately
purchased and consumed”
Case of California: Produces a significant
amount of nation’s food, yet in 2005,
imported approx. 3 million tons of products
Case of California: Produces a significant
amount of nation’s food, yet in 2005,
imported approx. 3 million tons of products,
including fruits, veggies, cereals, nuts, and
wine
But WHY? The agricultural groups in the state
produce most of these products
Keep supermarkets stocked
Foods are seasonal, but supermarkets
have made it possible to supply
products year-round
Many don’t purchase from local growers

7. A Closer Look at...Ethical Treatment of Animals
Back to factory farms…
Animals raised to be slaughtered(and earn a
profit), so factory farming operations
prioritize quantity over quality
squeezed into pens
injected with growth hormones
no room for natural behavior
Image Source:
http://www.huffingtonp
ost.com/2014/03/17/fac
tory-farming-
facts_n_4063892.html

8. A Closer Look at...Ethical Treatment of Workers
Focus on workers in ag sector
Because many are illegal immigrants, especially
vulnerable because given few protections
Dairy industry:
workers often exposed to pathogens, animal
fecal matter, strenuous work without
adequate breaks
Watsonville strawberry fields:
Health issues from back-breaking work and
exposure to pesticides in the fields
Source:
http://www.onegreenplan
et.org/animalsandnature/t
he-human-cost-of-
industrial-animal-
agriculture/
Source:
http://www.theatlantic.com/pa
st/issues/95nov/strawber.htm

9. What Can Be Done?
The good news: consumer shopping habits
really do have influence over a company’s
practices!
Furthermore, many want to actively choose
ethical producers to patronize
The bad news: we tend to prioritize our own
convenience, habits, and economic interests
Through increasing public awareness, however,
we can encourage the formation of new,
socially-aware consumer habits!
The Food Empowerment Project is a great
resource for more information about these
issues AND advice on how to get involved

10. GET INVOLVED!
Shop local farmers’ markets
ABUNDANT here in the Central Valley!
decrease environmental pollution
(transportation) AND infuses money into
local economy
Reduce your consumption of meat
Petition government to investigate/publish
reports on how to best access local
agricultural products
investigate companies suspected of unethical
practices
boycott said companies to force

11. References
Arrieta, R.M. “Hidden Horros: California Dairy Workers Face Danger and Abuse.” Dollars & Sense: Real World Economics,
September/October 2004.http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2004/0904arrieta.html [accessed October 19, 2015].
The Food Empowerment Project. “Pollution (Water, Air, Chemicals).”http://www.foodispower.org/pollution-water-air-chemicals/
[accessed October 19, 2015].
National Resources Defense Council. “Health Facts: Food Miles.” 2007. https://food-hub.org/files/resources/Food%20Miles.pdf
[accessed October 19, 2015].
Saxton, Dvera I. “Strawberry Fields as Extreme Environments: The Ecobiopolitics of Farmworker Health.” Medical Anthropology:
Cross-Cultural Studies in Health and Illness, October 13, 2014.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01459740.2014.959167 [accessed October 19, 2015].
Vermeir, Iris and Wim Verbeke. “Sustainable Food Consumption: Exploring the Consumer ‘Attitude-Behavioral Intention’ Gap.”
Jouranl of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, March 2009.
http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Wim_Verbeke2/publication/226354722_Sustainable
_Food_Consumption_Exploring_the_Consumer_Attitude__Behavioral_Intention_Gap/li
nks/02e7e52777df661605000000.pdf [accessed October 20, 2015].