2014-03-20
'Please, sir, can I have some more?'
Publication
Publication
Food, lifestyle, diets: Respect and moral responsibility
Best Practice and Research in Clinical Gastroenterology , Volume 28 - Issue 2 p. 235- 245
This article is about respect for food, responsibility for lifestyle and diet and responsibility for those who suffer from lack of food. After some general reflections on food, feasts, flatulence, taboos and waste, I argue that we have a responsibility to live a healthy lifestyle, but that there are also morally good reasons for taking risks with our health as we cherish other goals and values. Then I discuss situations, using the example of obesity, in which people are not free to choose their lifestyle. Governments and doctors have responsibilities in enabling people to chose healthy eating habits, e.g. by facilitating access to healthy foods and by criticizing scientifically unfounded weight loss diets. I continue to defend that we need to respect food and those who prepare it, and that we have a moral responsibility to contribute to the solution of the food gap in the world.
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doi.org/10.1016/j.bpg.2014.02.001, hdl.handle.net/1765/72165 | |
Best Practice and Research in Clinical Gastroenterology | |
Organisation | Erasmus MC: University Medical Center Rotterdam |
de Beaufort, I. (2014). 'Please, sir, can I have some more?'. Best Practice and Research in Clinical Gastroenterology, 28(2), 235–245. doi:10.1016/j.bpg.2014.02.001 |