Thursday, December 3, 2009

The Taste for Ethics or Edible France

The Taste for Ethics: An Ethic of Food Consumption

Author: Christian Coff

This book marks a new departure in ethics. In our culture ethics has first and foremost been a question of 'the good life' in relation to other people. Central to this ethic was friendship, inspired by Greek thought, and the caritas concept from the Judaeo-Christian tradition. But no early moral teaching discussed man's relation to the origin of foodstuffs and the system that produced them; doubtless the question was of little interest since the production path was so short.

Before industrialisation the production of food was easy to follow. As a rule that is no longer the case. The field of ethics must therefore be extended to cover responsibility for the production and choice of foodstuffs, and it is this food ethic that Christian Coff sets out to trace. In doing so he shows how the focus of ethics can be expanded from its concern for the good life with and for others to cover the good life in fair food production practices, and how not least through using our integrity or life coherence we can reflect ethically, or caringly, about living organisms, ecological systems and our human identity.

From the foreword by Dr. Peter Kemp, Professor of Philosophy at the Danish University of Education



Book review: Forensic Science Laboratory Manual And Workbook Revised Edition or Proactive Police Management

Edible France: A Traveller's Guide

Author: Glynn Christian

A region by region guide to food, wine, shopping, markets, local specialties, and more, this is the complete guide to discovering and enjoying the regionalfoods and wines of France.

Guardian

This truly is a guide book...It contains an astonishing wealth of information about local produce, specialties and markets...a must if you're going to France...

Library Journal

Christian, the former food reporter and chef of BBC TV's Breakfast Time and author of The Gourmet's Freezer (S. & S., 1989), offers a gastronomic guide to France. Each chapter concentrates on a single region, discussing the culinary specialties, traditional foods, local produce, and wines of each. The book does not list restaurants, nor is it a cookbook. Other than the section on Paris, it does not list individual stores. Instead, this book will save travelers from embarrassment when confronting a baeckenoffa in a Strasbourg restaurant. With book in hand, one could stroll confidently into an epicerie or hypermarket and pick up local specialties. Similar to Frommer's Food Lover's Companion to France (Macmillan, 1996) and Passport's Food & Wine Guides: France (Passport Bks., 1992), this is essential for the epicure visiting France, whether for a holiday or an extended stay. Recommended for public libraries.Ravi Shenoy, Hinsdale P.L., Ill.



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