Print this page The Ethics of What We Eat

Food choices raise important ethical questions about health, sustainability and responsibility. This course explores debates around ultra-processed foods, wellbeing, environmental impact and moral values. Drawing on ethical frameworks such as duties, consequences and virtues, participants are invited to reflect on how everyday eating connects to broader ideas about living well. Suitable for anyone interested in food, ethics and informed personal choice.

DELIVERY MODE

• Face-to-Face

SUGGESTED READING

• Tulleken, Ultra-Processed People: Unmasking the Food Industry’s Impact on Our Health
• Coulson, Most of the Foods We Eat Are Ultra-Processed. Are They All Unhealthy?
• Lane et al., Ultra-processed food exposure and adverse health outcomes: umbrella review of epidemiological meta-analyses, BMJ (2024)
• Wang, Du and Kim, Ultraprocessed Food Consumption and Risk of Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer Precursors Among Women, JAMA Oncology (2025)
• Health Direct, What are "ultraprocessed" foods and why are they so ubiquitous?

COURSE OUTLINE

• Food, food production, consumption and the common good
• The question of duties, obligations/responsibilities
• Impacts and consequences

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Understand what "ultraprocessed" foods are and some of the major consequences of consuming these
2. Understand the relation between food, food production and the ethics of the common good
3. Understand the ethical-deontological question of duties and obligations