Food futures : ethics, science and culture : EurSafe 2016

• Type: International Conference Proceedings Book
• Date: 2016

Authors

Olsson, Anna (Editor) ICBAS; Araújo, Sofia de Melo (Editor) FLUP; Vieira, Fátima (Editor) FLUP

Publisher

Wageningen Academic Publishers

Wageningen

Conference International

Eursafe 2016

Porto, 29 de setembro a 1 de outubro 2016

Other information

DOI: 10.3921/978-90-8686-834-6

Abstract (EN): Food is at the centre of human existence. We eat every day, not only to satisfy our physical needs but also as part of cultural and social interaction. Food choices and markets shape the agricultural landscape and the cities we live in. Whereas what we choose to eat and feed our family is part of who we are, a growing number of actors compete to influence our food habits, through marketing strategies and nutritional advice. And ethical considerations are coupled with every choice over food ¿ whether related to production, distribution, consumption, food waste, policy in general, marketing or advice. Given the variety of implications the ¿food problem¿ entails, the construction of an inclusive society must redirect the concerns about food in the present to the imagination of future alternatives. The search for innovative solutions calls for multidisciplinary critical enquiry ¿ and utopian thinking will be instrumental in that regard. Utopian thinking forces us, first of all, to reflect on what we would consider to be an ideal society and to set goals ¿ even knowing that they will never be totally reached. Second, utopian thinking is informed by the awareness that societies work as systems, and that if we change one aspect, all the other aspects will have to be changed as well. Third, utopian thinking forces us to reflect on alternative forms of organization, either by recycling solutions of the past and putting them into a new context, or by devising new ones. Thinking about food through holistic and prospective utopian thinking, aiming at the construction of an inclusive society where a variety of aspects are considered ¿ the nature of families and communities; gender and class relations; rural/urban relations; the health and well-being of humans, other animals and ecosystems; the political system; decision-making, amongst others ¿, such is the challenge EurSAFE sets to its delegates in 2016.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 629

ISBN: 978-90-8686-288-7

Electronic ISBN: 978-90-8686-834-6