Overcoming the moral psychology of denial: how to communicate more effectively about food ethics

Raymond Anthony

Overcoming the moral psychology of denial: how to communicate more effectively about food ethics

In: Ethical futures: bioscience and food horizons

Author:

Raymond Anthony

Raymond Anthony Department of Philosophy, University of Alaska Anchorage, USA; ranthon1@uaa.alaska.edu

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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 39–45

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.3920/9789086866731_006

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Besides creating incentives for the public to change their behavior and adopting effective policies for removing impediments, it is also critical to understand what might be immobilizing the public when it comes to making morally responsible food choices. Here, an area of food ethics that has received little attention is that of overcoming moral denial in an information-saturated society. That is, while many of us can accept the evidence that our farming practices and consumption habits may not be environmentally sustainable or good for animals and our farmers, we find it difficult to accept our responsibility for such enormity. This papers sheds light on how to overcome diffusion of moral responsibility, procrastination and bystanding in the food system. Here, the focus will be on how we should employ more effective communication when it comes to food ethics discourse. Merely delineating or countering with information, emphasizing the severe consequences of inaction and calling for immediate action is insufficient to overcome moral denial. Overcoming moral denial involves creating ethical narratives that break down and stand up to dominant forms of discourse about food. What is critical is reframing and placing narratives about food in the context of deeply held citizenship commitments and principleddriven alternatives. The case of animal agriculture is used as a backdrop to help discuss how virtues of stewardship, accountability and care may dislodge the social and conceptual hegemonies of the present day industrial-agribusiness narrative. It also serves as a way to cast our moral imagination to seek animal and farmer friendly practices and inspire collective determination and build social consensus.

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Ethical futures: bioscience and food horizons

E-Book ISBN:: 9789086866731

Publisher:: Wageningen Academic

Print Publication Date:: 30 Oct 2009

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- Life Sciences

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Overcoming the moral psychology of denial: how to communicate more effectively about food ethics

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Ethical futures: bioscience and food horizons

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