APR 14

22. APR 14

Assigned Work

• van Tulleken, C17, "The True Cost of Pringles" - externalities in the production of UPF.

In Class

• Documentary reports

van Tulleken, C17, "The True Cost of Pringles"

• Pringles case. UPF avoiding snack tax. In pringles case, ironically by claiming not much potato content. Pringles eventually loses the case. Very contorted arguments. Tax evasion is a kind of externality.

• UPFs and climate. Additional fossil fuel inputs, inefficiency of UPF foods for meat production (feed ratio).

• UPS and monoculture agriculture - Palm Oil particularly problematic. 258.

• Carbon footprint of animal foods. 260 - 100g of beef 25kg of carbon dioxide / Beans .65kg.

• Soy as animal food is relatively efficient feed ratio, but requires alot of processing. 261. To speed weight gain, we feed animals UPF feed.

• Soy and Amazon rainforest depletion. Water depletion. Amazon goes from carbon sink to carbon producer.

• Antibiotic use in animal production may be contributing to anti-biotic resistance.

• UPF and plastic packaging.

In-Class

• SCP: Short Critical Paper on the Ethics of Eating - Assigned

Winders and Ransom, "Introduction to the Global Meat Industry"

• Intro

• major concerns and questions: expansion of global meat industry makes several problems worse: environmental damage, effects on climate change, clean water, food insecurity, world hunger, consumer health, workers' rights and well-being, and (not least of all) the treatment of animals.
• Note: the ethical case against meat is not limited to the problem of animal ethics. Some of the non-animal ethics problems can be ameliorated by not participating in the industrial supply chain.
• Paradoxically, increased meat production can create food insecurity for some. 2.

• Global meat industry is a product of gov't and industry collaborating:
• Overproduces food animals relative to population.
• Creates dangers for environment and workers. (esp. from hyperslaughter)

• Global Meat Industry, 1960-2016

• Per capita consumption doubled from 1960 to 2016: 20kg/person/year to 40. Mostly in Global North.
• US has highest consumption by this data: 113.9kg/person/year (250 pounds a year! 4.8 pounds a week.)
• 45 million metric tons (MMT) to 259 MMT.
• $65 billion to about $400 billion.
• US meat exports '60 to '15 -- 2.6 MMT to 27 MMT -- We're not doing this to feed us?
• Note meat consumption increases occurred while population was also increasing. Population increase 1960-2016 3 billion to 7.4.

• Note that US has declined from peak consumption, also some Europeans, esp Denmark, Netherlands, and French.
• Increases in numbers of animals: 270% for pigs and 900% for chickens. Over 1.4 billion cows and pigs.

• Meat exports: most from global north. Asian and emerging industrial countries big importers. (Meat consumption follows wealth increases.) p. 12: increases in China, for example, 3.5kg to 57.6kg, Mexico almost tripled, Russia doubled.

• How did global meat grow so much?

• 1. Increases in feed grain production. Now more global feed grain production than food grain production (rice and wheat). Along with ag tech to put more land into production, GE corn and soybeans increased yields.
• 2. Trade policies - WTO - promotes free trade agreements for meat import/export.
• 3. increased corporate concentration. both production and processing.
• Concentration of processing produced scaling up. Read from p. 15. (Recall Maureen Ogle's history chapter.)

• former communist countries became markets.

• Consequences of global meat for consideration

• 1. Corporate concentration - Global food corporations exert significant power over farmers and national governments. Many poor countries with food insecurity export meat to wealthier countries.
• 2. Tension bt. cheap meat and food insecurity - Smallholder meat production in decline from competition.
• 3. Social and environmental injustice. Many environmental effects of meat production fall disproportionately on poor countries and poor within rich countries.

SCP: Ethics of Eating Animals

• Stage 1: Please write an 800-1000 word essay on the following prompt by Wednesday, April 24, 2023, 11:59pm.

• Topic: Our work on ethical issues in eating and food systems has focused on two kinds of problems: First, are there compelling reasons to refrain from eating some or all animals? Second, does the global industrial food system violate ethical norms? Is this a reason for avoiding specific foods or companies? In this essay, address both of these issues, drawing on course readings and expressing your own opinion. Do either of these ethical problem areas have an impact on your personal food practices?

• Advice about collaboration: Collaboration is part of the academic process and the intellectual world that college courses are based on, so it is important to me that you have the possibility to collaborate. I encourage you to collaborate with other students, but only up to the point of sharing ideas, references to class notes, and your own notes, verbally. Collaboration is also a great way to make sure that a high average level of learning and development occurs in the class. The best way to avoid plagiarism is to NOT share text of draft answers or outlines of your answer. Keep it verbal. Generate your own examples.

• Prepare your answer and submit it in the following way. You will lose points if you do not follow these instructions:

1. To assure anonymity, you must remove your name from the the "author name" that you may have provided when you set up your word processing application. For instructions on removing your name from an Word or Google document, [click here].
2. Format your answer in double spaced text, in a typical 12 point font, and using normal margins. Do not add spaces between paragraphs and indent the first line of each paragraph.
3. Do not put your name in the file or filename. You may put your student ID number in the file, but not in the filename. Save your file for this assignment with the name: FoodEthics.
4. To turn in your assignment, log into courses.alfino.org, click on the "#3: Food Ethics" dropbox.
5. If you cannot meet a deadline, you must email me about your circumstances (unless you are having an emergency) before the deadline or you will lose points.

• Stage 2: I will grade and briefly comment on your essays.