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A Rose With Any Other Label: The Ethics of Food Labeling
Tricia Edgar | Friday 30th October 2009
 My father grinned at me one day and invited me to a friend's coffee shop. He knows that I'm interested in ethical and sustainable food, and his friend owns a coffee shop that is bird-friendly, shade grown, organic, fair trade, and roasted locally. Deep breath. That's a long sentence.There are many potential labels that may sit on your food these days. Often, they are longer than the name of the food itself. Understanding these labels can feel like a full time job, especially if you eat processed food - and most of us do, to some extent. Looking at the carbohydrates and the different types of fats on the side is too much for us to bear, as is a peek at the first few ingredients on the list. However, as consumers we know that we should be looking, and that we should remain aware of what's going into our bodies. We also know that we should be concerned about the conditions that our food grows in and that we should think about the workers who grew it. But this can feel like a daunting task. Sometimes, we look for a cure-all, a one stop symbol that will show us whether that food is good for us or not. The newly-developed the Smart Choices program provided consumers with such an option: a single green check mark on the front of the box would show prospective buyers that a product was a healthier choice. The program was developed by a coalition of food companies like General Mills and Kellogg, and it had limits to the allowable fat and sugar in a product. Last week, the US Food and Drug Administration announced that it was going to crack down on food labeling. Since that time, the Smart Choices program has suspended operations. The Smart Choices program was a controversial one from its inception, since it seemed to promote sugary cereals for children, items that one would not immediately think of as healthy. However, its demise brings up broader questions about food labeling. As the fair trade and organics industries have grown, the debates have raged about what constitutes fair trade and about what to do with products that claim to be organic in nature but are not USDA certified. While I know the farmer who grows many of my vegetables, we're not all lucky enough to know those who farm our food. We can't tell if the produce was sprayed, or whether those who picked our bananas were treated fairly. Our food has a story to tell, and we need organizations to tell it - organizations that are independent and have standards that are visible and in the best interests of those who grow our food and those who eat it. |
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