The consumer does not exist: overcoming the citizen/consumer paradox by shifting focus

S. Aerts

The consumer does not exist: overcoming the citizen/consumer paradox by shifting focus

In: The ethics of consumption

Author:

S. Aerts

S. Aerts KAHO Sint-Lieven, Hospitaalstraat 23, 9100 Sint-Niklaas, Belgium & Centre for Science, Technology and Ethics, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 1, P.O. Box 2456, 3001 Leuven, Belgium; stef.aerts@kahosl.be

Search for other papers by S. Aerts in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed

Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 172–176

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.3920/9789086867844_029

Purchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):

€42.00€35.00 excl. VAT

Add to Cart

Redeem Access Token

A common framework to describe the difficult situation of today’s agricultural markets is the different (perceived) attitudes of the citizen (as found via surveys) and that of the consumer (assessed via buying patterns). It is said that the citizen is demanding for ever increasing animal welfare and environmental efforts (usually at an increased production price), but at the same time the consumer in the shops is heading for the cheapest product, regardless of the production system. This dilemma (or paradox) has been confirmed many times by scientific and market research. This way of framing does however not align with the complexity of contemporary food production. It starts from the – flawed – assumption that food producers (farmers) and consumers interact. But only on rare occasions they still do. Except in short-chain commercialisation systems, consumers do not buy food as it is produced by farmers, but instead they buy – even fresh produce – from retailers that have acquired it from auction markets. For other food products many more intermediate steps exist. In this paper we will show that in most instances in which conventional food production systems made progress towards more welfare friendly or more sustainable production this has been done by circumventing the citizen-consumer paradox instead of addressing it. Examples are the shift to non-battery eggs in the Low Countries in 2005-2006 and the current steps towards non-castration pig production. We conclude that focusing on the consumer in order to restore balance is – if not futile – overly optimistic. It assumes a consumer position that is not in line with reality. Furthermore, it obscures the important leverage of other actors in the food chain, some of whom may not be unsympathetic to this ‘invisible’ position.

Citation Info

Save
Cite
Email this content

Share link with colleague or librarian

You can email a link to this page to a colleague or librarian:
Email this content
or copy the link directly:

https://brill.edhh.ma/abstract/book/9789086867844/BP000029.xml
The link was not copied. Your current browser may not support copying via this button.

Link copied successfully

Collapse
Expand

The ethics of consumption

The citizen, the market, and the law

E-Book ISBN:: 9789086867844

Publisher:: Wageningen Academic

Print Publication Date:: 01 Nov 2013

Subjects
- Life Sciences

Metrics

	All Time	Past 365 days	Past 30 Days
Abstract Views	233	61	4
Full Text Views	22	6	1
PDF Views & Downloads	28	9	2

African Studies	Education	Media Studies
American Studies	History	Middle East and Islamic Studies
Ancient Near East and Egypt	Human Rights and Humanitarian Law	Musicology
Art History	International Law	Philosophy
Asian Studies	International Relations	Religious Studies
Biblical Studies	Jewish Studies	Slavic and Eurasian Studies
Biology	Languages and Linguistics	Social Sciences
Book History and Cartography	Life Sciences	Theology and World Christianity
Classical Studies	Literature and Cultural Studies

Subjects

Authors

Open Access

Product Information

Company

Contact

The consumer does not exist: overcoming the citizen/consumer paradox by shifting focus

Citation Info

Share link with colleague or librarian

The ethics of consumption

The citizen, the market, and the law

Table of Contents

Metrics

Metrics