Taking Consumers Seriously: Two Concepts of Consumer Sovereignty

Governments, producers, and international free tradeorganizations like the World Trade Organization (WTO) areincreasingly confronted with consumers who not only buy (or don'tbuy) goods, but also demand that those goods are producedconforming to certain ethical (often diverse) standards. Not onlysafety and health belong to these ethical ideals, but animalwelfare, environmental concerns, labor circumstances, and fairtrade. However, this phantom haunts the dusty world of social andpolitical philosophy as well. The new concept ``consumersovereignty' bypasses the conceptual dichotomy of consumer andcitizen.According to the narrow liberal response to this newconstellation, with respect to food one should conceptualizeconsumer sovereignty as the right of the individual consumer toget information on food products and to make his or her ownchoice on the market of food products. In this conception, thereis a very strong emphasis on rules and principles with respect tothe autonomy of individuals.I argue that these narrow liberal concepts are not sufficient forappropriate public policy-making in democratic societies, andthat they only enable us to identify problems; they do not helpnon-experts (and experts, if it comes to that, as well) inweighing the different ethical claims. Besides, not onlyprinciples play a role in the outcome, but all kinds of ideals aswell, like roles, values, and norms. My principal argument isthat analysis or justification of norms or principles is notsufficient to get a synthesis or construction of ethicalsolutions: we need some value orientation to guide us inbalancing the different ethical claims by solving an ethicalproblem. Moreover, this balancing is something that requiressocial space and social time, i.e., public debates. With theconcept of public debates a whole new dimension enters ethicalanalysis, because the attention of ethicists shifts toformulating criteria of successful and rational public debates.However, in the broad liberal view these concepts aresupplemented with values, preferences, practices of care, andinvolvement. I argue firstly for a broadened perspective on foodas an integral part of life styles and not only as something thatpresents risks. That is the reason that food gets such intensiveattention from the public, which is summarized in the concept ofconsumer concerns. Secondly, I defend the argument that not only(rational) public debates, but intensive commitments of bothproducers and consumers in every link of the chain in so calledcare practices or consumer councils can enhance confidence in thefood production system and the way we extract our daily intakefrom nature.     

食品污染综合评价的模糊数学方法

研究食品污染综合评价的模糊数学方法 ,建立食品污染综合评价的模糊数学方法模型 ,并应用于北京市主要蔬菜、水果和肉类中重金属、农药、多环芳烃、硝酸盐和亚硝酸盐污染调查结果的综合评价 ,取得了较为满意的结果 .     

国内外餐饮垃圾的管理

餐饮垃圾高含水量和易腐等特性 ,使其成为一类特殊的固体垃圾。餐饮垃圾对于我国城市发展还是个新问题 ,国内外系统报道其管理和处理对策的文献也很少。在分析中 ,介绍了国内外餐饮垃圾的管理政策与治理技术 ,同时 ,针对我国目前现状 ,提出城市餐饮垃圾的管理和治理建议 ,为困扰我国众多城市的餐饮垃圾管理与治理决策提供参考     

Reducing environmental impacts through socioeconomic transitions: critical review and prospects

● Reducing environmental impacts through socioeconomic structural transitions. ● Simulation of looping the dynamic material cycle should be concerned. ● Transboundary effects of socioeconomic transitions need to be analyzed. ● Facilitating interregional cooperation and synergetic control mechanisms. Rapid socioeconomic development has caused numerous environmental impacts. Human production and consumption activities are the underlying drivers of resource uses, environmental emissions, and associated environmental impacts (e.g., ecosystem quality and human health). Reducing environmental impacts requires an understanding of the complex interactions between socioeconomic system and environmental system. Existing studies have explored the relationships among human society, economic system, and environmental system. However, it is unclear about the research progress in the effects of socioeconomic activities on environmental impacts and the potential directions of future research. This critical review finds that existing studies have identified critical regions, sectors, and transmission pathways for resource uses, environmental emissions, and environmental impacts from supply chain perspectives. Moreover, scholars have characterized the impacts of socioeconomic transitions on resource uses and environmental emissions. However, existing studies overlook the dynamic nature of the interconnections among human society, economic system, and environmental system. In addition, the effects of socioeconomic structural transitions on environmental impacts remain unknown. This review proposes four prospects and possible solutions that will contribute to a better understanding of the complex interactions among human society, economic system, and environmental system. They can help identify more effective solutions to reduce environmental impacts through socioeconomic transitions.     

Endocrine disrupting effects on Chinese rare minnow (Gobiocypris rarus) fed with field collected Limnodrilus sp

The potential endocrine disrupting effects and other toxicity effects on aquatic biota resulted from food uptake was simulated by feeding the laboratory cultured rare minnow ( Gobiocypns rams) with field collected Limnodnlus sp. The results indicated that the food chain processes affected significantly the growth, slightly reduced gonadosomatic indices, and elevated hepatosomatic indices. There was an obvious vitellogenin(VTG) induction, which generally only occurred in mature female, in the serum of juvenile rare minnow and mature male when fed with Limnodrilus sp. In addition, the rare minnow feeding on Limnodnlus sp. had significantly high renal indices, it meant obvious renal hyperplasia. The present work suggested that Limnodnlus sp. from field water may contain toxic pollutants and could lead to endocrine disruption effects to the predators. It was concluded that endocrine disruptors may not only be assimilated through water, but also be bioconcentrated through food web. The results also suggested the importance of food selection in conducting the study of endocrine disruption effects using sensitive species.     

20世纪90年代以来主要气象灾害对我国粮食生产的影响与减灾对策

干旱、洪涝、风雹和低温四大类主要气象灾害已经成为限制我国粮食增产的主要障碍。近5年的统计结果表明，我国平均每年粮食受灾面积达0．52亿hm^2，粮食损失超过500亿kg。干旱是危害最大的灾种，每年因旱灾损失粮食占气象灾害损失粮食的57％。20世纪90年代以来旱灾的发生较以往大幅度加重。我国农业应该采取的减灾对策为：改善生态环境；加强农业基础设施建设；推广节水灌溉与旱作农业技术；加强农业减灾科学技术研究；完善农业防灾减灾体系；建立农业灾害保险与补贴机制。     

有机食品发展与生态省建设

分析论述了发展有机食品与生态省建设概念、理论、理念和建设指标的一致性关系,阐述了有机食品发展是生态省建设的重要内容,提出了在生态省建设中重视加强有机食品发展的具体措施.     

峨边县土壤环境质量现状与优质安全农产品基地建设浅析

通过对峨边县几种主要农业土壤中重金属含量的监测和结果评价,分析出了峨边县土壤环境质量的现状,为峨边县发展无公害农产品和绿色食品生产基地提出建议。     

Urban nature at the fingertips: Investigating wild food foraging to enable nature interactions of urban dwellers

Meaningful human–nature interactions can counteract the extinction of experience and positively influence people’s nature relatedness, health and wellbeing. In this study, we explored urban wild food foraging to understand how best to enable human-nature interactions in cities by means of foraging. Using a structured questionnaire, a total of 458 residents of Vienna, Austria were surveyed. Sixty-four percent of visitors of public urban green spaces previously foraged for wild food species, whereas foraging frequencies were related to the targeted plant species and their life forms. People who foraged more frequently had greater nature relatedness, more childhood foraging experiences and lived on the outskirts of the city, but their socio-demographic backgrounds were heterogeneous. Social acceptance and lack of access to wild foods were perceived to be barriers. To promote nature relatedness through urban foraging, the legal framework, access to low-contamination foraging areas, availability of wild foods and social acceptance need to be improved.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01648-1.