Abstract of presentation by Amy Taggart, Trinity College Dublin at the LEAP Conference 2026
The Ethics of Future Food Systems: Alternative Proteins, 'Naturalness', and Relational Values.
In discussions about the development of alternative proteins, perceived ‘naturalness’ has been identified as an important predictor of public support of such products, representing a strongly held, widespread, but ill-defined consumer value. Such preferences are often framed negatively in the philosophical and scientific literature, as an error of judgement or reasoning, a ‘fallacy’ or ‘bias’ to be overcome. Many scholars have examined our preference for ‘naturalness’ as an indicator of our valuing nature and ‘natural’ products for their (sometimes misguided) perceived health benefits (instrumental value) or an intuitive sense of the inherent worth of nature (intrinsic value). Relational values, defined as ‘preferences, principles and virtues about human-nature relationships’, have emerged as an important ‘third category’ of value frameworks recognised by IPBES as policy relevant.
Moving beyond traditional ethical debates about the instrumental and intrinsic value of nature, I will explore what the ‘naturalness’ preference might reveal about how we value our relationship with the natural world, its inhabitants and processes. Drawing upon the ethics of attention and the care ethics tradition, I will argue that current patterns of food production and consumption may be viewed as a form of alienation from the kind of attentiveness to nature and its processes that is required for our, and the planet’s, flourishing. Whether future food interventions such as the marketing of alternative proteins will serve to disrupt or reinforce this paradigm, is an important consideration. A relational value theory approach can challenge dominant reductionist framings that instrumentalise nature, in which animals are reduced to livestock, and livestock is reduced to protein - often the favoured narratives of powerful food actors. Widening our lens to include all relevant perspectives in discussions about future food systems can help us to develop a holistic approach to sustainable future food systems, grounded in relation with nature’s flourishing.