Responsible Food in Europe: a Discourse Analysis on the Focus and Locus of Responsibility
2015-03-06
Anu Lähteenmäki-Uutela, University of Turku
KEYWORDS: food, discourse, responsibility
Summary
Texts produced by European food business stakeholders were analyzed in order to find out the European food issues at focus right now. Discourses entail the use of power: discourses define the issues that are dealt with. Dominant discourses exclude other types of text and talk. Food safety and climate change are currently at focus. Issues that are under-discussed include genetically modified food, organic food, vegetable diets, insects as food, and hunger. The locus of responsibility was also analyzed. The stakeholders seem to be relying primarily on the political decision-making procedures for solving food issues, instead of relying on market pressure or business ethics. Market actors blame each other for abusing market power and see law as a solution. Instead of engaging in direct negotiation, actors negotiate through the lobbying system. Of the market actors, particularly consumers are urged to change their behavior.