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FoodHistory
FoodHistory
Theincrease in global population has resulted in an increase in demandfor food. Consequently, the food production industry has evolved intoone of the largest industry in the modern economies. Traditionally,populations depend on subsistence farming, which is not applicable inthe modern industrialized and urbanized society. The growth of thefood industry has resulted in emerging ethical issues related tosustainability and morality of some of the intensive food productionactivities. Some of the intensive activities in the food productionsector include the use of high yielding food crops, geneticallymodified organisms, hydroponic, chemical fertilizers and syntheticpesticides (Thompson, 2014). Other emerging issues include industrialfarming which involves confining animals in a small area to maximumproduction. There are numerous ethical and moral issues that areassociated with intensive agriculture. The issues have resulted intodoubts on whether the food available in the market is healthy forhuman consumption (Thompson, 2014).
Consequently,sustainable food production and agricultural activities constitute amajor facet of corporate social responsibility for businessorganizations in the food production sectors. One of the mostimportant issues associated with intensive agriculture is the sideeffects of residue insecticides in the environment. For example,insecticides such as DDT accumulate in the food chain resulting incatastrophic ecological impacts (Thompson, 2014). However, as acorporate social responsibility activity, an organization can promotethe use of biological pesticides such as natural predators to replacesynthetic insecticide. Business organizations in food production canalso promote organic farming activities which are more sustainableand environmentally friendly. For example, they can promote thereplacement of chemical fertilizers with organic manure or more croprotation to improve soil fertility. Factory farming is a contentiousethical issue in agriculture. Corporate organizations have the socialresponsibility of promoting animal rights and working together withanimal rights lobby groups to promote ethical agriculturalactivities. Consequently, ethical practices in crop growing andanimal husbandry will ensure that the food produced in the farms ishealthy for food consumption (Thompson, 2014).
Reference
Thompson,P. (2014). Encyclopediaof food and agricultural ethics.New York: Springer.