‘If I could afford an avocado every day’: Income differences and ethical food consumption in a world of abundance

Abstract

This study explores how ethical food consumption is framed in the accounts of ordinary people living in affluent societies, with a particular focus on income differences. Research on ethical consumption often associates ‘ethical’ with the consumption of certain predefined products. This study leaves the question of the content of ethical consumption open for empirical investigation. Further, instead of focusing only on the moment of purchasing, this study considers how people with different income levels relate to both food consumption and waste. The analysis draws from qualitative interviews with 60 people living in Canada and Finland. The analysis identified the techniques, subjects and norms through which the question ethical food consumption is posed by the informants and how they framed these issues with regard to income. The findings underline that ethical consumption is a socially constructed, contested and even internally contradictory discourse. Differences in income do not only mean differences in the role that money plays in food choices but also in what kind of consumption people consider worth pursuing. Further, differences in income dictate differences in how people are morally positioned vis-à-vis abundance. For people with a higher level of income, moral blame is asserted on wasteful consumption habits. For the people with a low income, in turn, it is ethically condemnable to refuse to rejoice at the abundance around us. The findings indicate that even in a society where the rhetoric of choice is prominent both as a right and as an obligation by which people ought to display ethical agency, the ethics of choice is tied to the resources available for consumption. People with a severely low income occasionally enjoy the trickling down of abundant treats and surprises. However, for them, occasional indulgence causes not only pleasure but also trouble.

Ethical consumption: why should we understand it as a social practice within a multilevel framework?

“…A number of studies moreover indicate that “privileged groups” in terms of higher-income levels and more education are more likely to be ethical/political consumers ( e.g . Salonen, 2021 ).The above discussion shows there is a dialectical process between the levels. That is, to normalize a new practice both niches and regimes need each other, facilitated by broad landscape movements in the early stage, knowledge and information that consumers obtain from formal or informal learning environments are critical to developing niche ethical consumption practices.…”

The lab, land, and longing: Discursive constructions of Australian identities in ‘future’ food consumption

“…The current research begun with the premise that social identity factors may influence broader ethical enactments towards food (Balderjahn et al, 2023; Lehtokunnas et al, 2022; Salonen, 2023). From our findings, such identity markers of citizen-consumption, nationalism, and nostalgia revealed identity constructions that aid various ethical stances that share implications for the future consumption of food.…”

“…The current research offers three contributions to the theory of food ethics, social identity construction, and the co-option of future foods. Firstly, we contribute an understanding of the cultural meaning of food and its intersection with food ethics (Johnston et al, 2011; Lehtokunnas et al, 2022; Salonen, 2023). We extend the theory of food ethics to include how future foods have the potential to shift food ethics in the near future.…”

“…Over the past few decades, socio-cultural research has emphasised unique evolutions in food consumption. An increasing number of consumers are participating in cultural systems of ethics, exhibiting enacted moral work towards food available to consumers (Balderjahn et al, 2023; Lehtokunnas et al, 2022; Salonen, 2023), whilst also negotiating resistance or cooperation with wider institutional systems to assert social and market power rights as consumers (Domaneschi, 2012; Harrison et al, 2006). Shifts from consumption being regarded as a rational behavioural choice have evolved to food playing an important role in cultural and social processes for consumers (Bartels and Onwezen, 2014; Ulver-Sneistrup et al, 2011).…”

“…Food ethics occur as an overarching cultural discourse that incorporates various instantiations of consumer morality that shape the public sphere (Johnston et al, 2011). Ethical undercurrents within the food system have the potential to disrupt existing forms of diets, lifestyles, identities, rituals, and practices in consumption (Salonen, 2023).…”