The choice that disappeared

on the complexity of being a political consumer

M. Gjerris

H. Saxe

pp. 154-159

in: Helena Röcklinsberg, Per Sandin (eds), The ethics of consumption, Wageningen, Wageningen Academic Publishers, 2013

Abstract

This article criticise the notion that ethical consumerism can solve the ethical issues related to sustainability and food production through an analysis of the complexity of the concept of sustainability as related to food choices. The current trend of leaving the political discussion and regulation of the food area to the political consumer is shown to be problematic as shopping for sustainability might be much harder than initially believed due to the conflicting considerations entailed in the concept. Thus political consumerism may give way to fatalism as the complexity of choices become apparent and acts of citizenship increasingly are reduced to ethical consumerism supposed to be performed while shopping. The suggested solution is to let food policies be decided to a much higher degree through the political process engaging humans as citizens rather than consumers in the process.