Food as a Moral Problem

Abstract

Bioeconomy is hailed as holding great potential for innovative and effective solutions for global problems regarding sustainability, environmental conservation, and food security. It has, however, also been criticised in view of its conceptual preconditions, unreflective use of technological fixes, and potentially adverse outcomes. Food ethics can provide a differentiated assessment of strategies and technologies applied in bioeconomy by means of scrutinising respective current theoretical and practical issues, for instance, those involving novel food technologies. The present article will (1) draw a rough sketch of food ethics in terms of a comprehensive theory of the good life, (2) analyse food as a moral problem, and (3) discuss some arguments concerning a paradigmatic example of technical solutions for moral problems in the context of bioeconomy, namely in vitro meat.