- Chris MacDonald is a Toronto-based ethicist, professor, speaker and consultant.
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Author Archives: Chris MacDonald
Food Unites Us, and Tears us Apart
As my American friends prepare for Thanksgiving, it’s interesting to note the dual cultural tendencies of food to unite us and to divide us. This past Sunday, over at my Business Ethics Blog, I posted what has turned out to … Continue reading
Waste Not, Want Not: Nutria as Ethical Fur (and Meat?)
This story isn’t about food, really, but it could have been. It’s about the use of fur from the toothy beast known as the nutria (a.k.a. swamp rat) in the world of fashion, and the attempt to market its pelt … Continue reading
Posted in animal rights, ecosystems, ethics, meat, vegetarianism
4 Comments
Are Self-Righteous Foodies Self-Defeating?
Here’s a lovely, thoughtful piece from NYT food blogger Peter Meehan: Grass Fed | A Few Beefs The piece consists of 3 anecdotes. In each, Meehan — himself a serious foodie — is either subjected to, or sees someone else … Continue reading
The Controversial Pom & Pistachio Magnates
Here’s an excellent piece on California philanthropists/fruit magnates Lynda and Stewart Resnick. By Susan Berfield, writing for Bloomberg Businessweek: A Pistachio Farmer, Pom Wonderful, and the FTC On an unexpectedly rainy October day in Los Angeles, Stewart Resnick looks out … Continue reading
Posted in agriculture, ethics, farmers, FDA, health claims, regulation
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A (Uniquely?) Ethical Dairy Farm
When it comes to marketing food these days, few buzzwords seem to carry more weight than that simple 6-letter word, “ethics.” See this story, from the BBC: A new ethical farm opens at Bhaktivedanta Manor Hare Krishnas at Bhaktivedanta Manor … Continue reading
Posted in agriculture, animal welfare, ethics, factory farms, religion
3 Comments
US Government Contradicts Itself in Promoting Cheese
[Addendum (Dec. 14 2010) — it seems the NYT article cited below may have been misleading. See this blog entry here. Thanks to reader Anastasia for notifying me.] I love cheese. Probably too much. If I ate as much of … Continue reading
Posted in health, junk food, marketing, public policy, USDA
2 Comments
Fairtrade Coffee Battle
The British papers are having it out over fairtrade coffee this week: Here’s the first volley, from Sean Poulter, writing for the Daily Mail: Unfair trade: Ethical food ‘is not lifting Third World farmers out of poverty’ Sales of its … Continue reading
Posted in certifiction, ethics, fairtrade, labeling
1 Comment
Food Eco Labels vs Legislation
When is choice good? Do labels do enough to help us make good choices? When is legislation required? Should legislation facilitate good decisions, or force them? See this story, by Harry Wallop, for the Daily Telegraph: Food eco labels not … Continue reading
Posted in certifiction, choice, environment, ethics, labeling, regulation, values
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Endangered Dinner DNA
Earlier this month, the print version of Popular Science ran a really interesting story on using genetic technology to fight the traffic in endangered species. Here’s the web version: Is Your Dinner Endangered? DNA Detectives Investigate In the ongoing campaign … Continue reading
Posted in endangered species, environment, fisheries, genes, international, regulation, science
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Beer as Taxidermy
I guess if you’re going to push your luck in terms of social objections to your product, you might as well push hard. In particular, if you’re going to produce a beer (typically a low-alcohol beverage) with 55% alcohol, you … Continue reading
Posted in alcohol, animal rights, ethics, marketing
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