When McDonald’s pledged in September 2015 to use cage-free eggs in all of its restaurants in the next decade, it came as no surprise to Calvin philosophy professor Matt Halteman.
Not because he’s a frequent McDonald’s patron, but rather because for the past 11 years he has been studying and writing about the ethics of eating, a philosophical subfield of applied ethics.
In fact, at the time of the McDonald’s announcement, which Time magazine noted would “hasten a transition occurring across the industry,” Halteman was putting the finishing touches on Philosophy Comes to Dinner: Arguments About the Ethics of Eating, a book he both contributed to and edited.
“Everyone is talking about food,” Halteman said, “and questions about the principles and values that ought to guide decisions about dinner have become urgent for moral, ecological and health-related reasons.”
Philosophy Comes to Dinner feature 18 philosophers on topics ranging from the sustainability of modern agriculture to the pros and cons of alternative diets. The book includes contributions from Halteman, as well as from a quartet of Calvin alumni: Christina Van Dyke ‘94 (also a Calvin philosophy professor), Benjamin J. Bruxvoort Lipscomb ‘96 (a philosophy professor at Houghton College in New York), Megan Halteman Zwart ‘00 (a philosophy professor at Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Ind.) and Daniel Hooley ‘09 (a PhD candidate in philosophy at the University of Toronto).
In announcing the move to cage-free eggs, McDonald’s cited both consumer demand and animal welfare as motivations. That dual focus also permeates Philosophy Comes to Dinner, which, Halteman said, arises out of the discussions of the last decade about the “serious moral and practical problems associated with industrial animal agriculture and its products.”
Those discussions, he added, have led many to ask if eating lower on the food chain is not only better for animals but also better for the environment and better for people. The discussions also have motivated many to pursue comprehensive food systems reform.
The new book aims to contribute to those conversations.
“We thought it would be interesting to round up a bunch of people from all over the philosophical map as a means of showing that this set of issues deserves widespread attention, regardless of one’s philosophical specialty,” Halteman said. “We went after the best people we could think of, and we said, ‘How would you like to write an original essay, suitable for general audiences, on some aspect of the ethics of eating?’”
Halteman sees the topic of food ethics as especially relevant for Christian philosophers.
“Eating is such a habitual and humdrum activity that it readily evades our attention as a subject for reflection. And reflecting on our eating habits can be a threatening proposition. But our food choices have consequences. Our collective eating habits have implications for all of creation,” he said.
“Cast in this light, the question of what to eat begins to look like a feast for philosophical reflection and practice. And for Christian philosophers, engaging this question offers an exciting opportunity to give public voice to the Christian vision of shalom for all of God’s creation. Surprising as it may sound, the humble question of what to eat can prompt us daily to answer God’s call to care for creation.”
Though the book’s essays largely concur that industrial animal agriculture is morally indefensible, they differ on how consumers should respond. Many of the essays argue for vegetarianism, but an equal number promote conscientious omnivorism as a morally permissible option.
A vegan himself, Halteman added with a laugh: “At least one person actually turned down a request to blurb the book because it was not vegetarian/vegan enough!”
“The book's purpose is to invite people to reflect on how to build a more ethical, sustainable and healthful food system in place of the flagging system we have today,” he said.
Philosophy Comes to Dinner is being published by Routledge, a leading academic publisher, and Halteman hopes the book will be a good resource for undergraduate courses in ethics and food ethics as well as for people who are curious about the topic and enjoy a challenging read. He is encouraged that Routledge is releasing a reduced-price paperback immediately to make the book accessible to audiences beyond academia.
