Food Ethics and the Philosophy of Race

Abstract

AbstractEnvironmental philosophies emphasizing food and the problems associated with industrial agriculture are brought into dialog with recent philosophical work stressing feminism and identity, but laying primary emphasis on the philosophy of race. Building on Chapter 7’s discussion of the agrarian commitments of 18th- and 19th-century natural history, Charles Mills’s notion of a racial contract is the chapter’s primary orientation to the philosophy of race and notions of white supremacy. Two points of linkage are developed. Oppression within food systems occurs when any form of gender or racial violence or stereotyping is deployed to consign groups to lower-status positions or exploit their contribution for white males. Plantation slavery is a key example. Work in the philosophy of race should lay more emphasis on the role of plantation agriculture in perpetuating the institution of racist slaveholding. The second form is displacement of food systems, or the annihilation of an oppressed group’s ability to practice their foodways and agricultural methods. Displacement of indigenous populations is a key example, but recent calls for food sovereignty also reflect this concern. A detailed discussion of Thomas Jefferson’s views on race, slavery, and key elements of his presidency as well as his management of his Monticello plantation are examined to exemplify both types of racism in the early American republic. The chapter concludes with some speculation on alternative agrarianisms that might help counter the thrusts and implications of Jeffersonian agrarianism.