Animal rights/Plant rights

This article sketches the rise of the concept of animal rights, especially in the late 20th century, mainly due to the work of Peter Singer. Considering the increase in evidence of plant intelligence, the question is discussed of whether plants might also be entitled to the same rights as animals. This question is answered in the affirmative. This would mean that humans would no longer be allowed to eat their fellow creatures. It is demonstrated that the concept of rights for non-human entities is a fundamental negation of rights as something exclusively human. Humans, like all other organisms cannot do anything else than obey the natural law of eating and being eaten. The position of plants and animals in farming is discussed from the perspective of domestication of plants and animals, and the responsibilities that this situation imposes on humans. Although a certain reduction of consumption of animal products is desirable, this has nothing to do with animal rights, but with ecological necessities only. Some recommendation for food service practice are given. Keywords: animal rights, food service, plant rights, speciesism, vegan, vegetaria

Consequences of Uncertainty in Global-Scale Land Cover Maps for Mapping Ecosystem Functions: An Analysis of Pollination Efficiency

Mapping ecosystem services (ESs) is an important tool for providing the quantitative information necessary for the optimal use and protection of ecosystems and biodiversity. A common mapping approach is to apply established empirical relationships to ecosystem property maps. Often, ecosystem properties that provide services to humanity are strongly related to the land use and land cover, where the spatial allocation of the land cover in the landscape is especially important. Land use and land cover maps are, therefore, essential for ES mapping. However, insight into the uncertainties in land cover maps and how these propagate into ES maps is lacking. To analyze the effects of these uncertainties, we mapped pollination efficiency as an example of an ecosystem function, using two continental-scale land cover maps and two global-scale land cover maps. We compared the outputs with maps based on a detailed national-scale map. The ecosystem properties and functions could be mapped using the GLOBCOVER map with a reasonable to good accuracy. In homogeneous landscapes, an even coarser resolution map would suffice. For mapping ESs that depend on the spatial allocation of land cover in the landscape, a classification of satellite images using fractional land cover or mosaic classes is an asset

Key values of Chinese consumers buying sustainable goods: the case of Green Food in Fuzhou

This research identifies the key individual values guiding the choice of Chinese customers for Green Food. The work builds on literature on sustainable consumption and the role of values in explaining consumers’ buying behaviour. A questionnaire on values and buying behaviour was administered to customers who buy Green Food in Fuzhou, China. The results indicated that the well-being and health of the respondents and their closest relations were the most important reasons for buying Green Food. Concern for the planet and intergenerational solidarity was less important for most respondents. Lifestyle considerations did not seem to play a role. In the promotion of Green Food the main focus should be on  health benefits; only a limited group will be responsive to arguments in favour of the Earth’s natural environment. The present study was limited to a specific city in China and to buyers of Green Food. Future research should consider replication in other cities and the inclusion of non-buyers. Nevertheless, this study offered some insights into the rapidly expanding market for Green Food in China. In contrast to mature economies such as the European Union and USA, Chinese consumers are more concerned for personal and family health and less for the environment at large. An unexpected result is that buying  motives from existing literature should be reviewed in the light of research on value orientation. Keywords: food consumption, Green Food, sustainable consumption, valuesResearch in Hospitality Management 2012, 1(2): 65–7

Game consumption and attitudes to hunting in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, per capita game consumption is low, but during autumn and Christmas, many consumers eat game, once or twice. Restaurants supply a big share of this game. Anti-hunting activism is a potential threat for the supply of game and therefore, to this part of restaurant business. The Dutch Organisation for Animal Protection (Dierenbescherming) claims that 97% of the Dutch population is opposed to hunting. This seems contradictory to the modest but widespread game consumption. The present paper explores this contradiction. By conducting street interviews, 276 usable questionnaires were obtained. 52% of the respondents consumed game, 48% didn’t. Roughly a third of the respondents were opposed to hunting, another third were pro and the other third were neutral. Opponents of hunting were more numerous among respondents not eating game. Reasons for not eating game were the perceived complexity of preparation, cost and difficulty in buying game, not liking the taste and vegetarianism. Restaurants were the dominant places for game consumption, indicating that the perceived complexity of game preparation limits home consumption. Possible explanations for the contradiction between the present research and the report ordered by Dierenbescherming are explored. Differences in methodology and lack of information about hunting possibly play an important role. The paper concludes with recommendations for the restaurant industry.Keywords: animal protection, restaurant offerings, meat eating, anti-hunting activism, consumer opinion surve

The cheeseboard in Dutch fine dining restaurants, III: Using the FSC model in finding good cheese-wine combinations: A pilot study with red bacteria cheeses

The authors selected four wines that, according to their restaurant experience, matched well with red bacteria cheeses. Subsequently, an expert panel created flavour profiles of these four wines and of four red bacteria cheeses, using the FSC model by Klosse (2004, 2014). The cheeses and the wines demonstrated great similarities in flavour profile: high flavour richness, a more coating than contracting mouthfeel and a dominance of ripe flavour tones over fresh tones. These results give further support to Klosse’s rules about matching food and beverages.Keywords: flavour profiles, flavour styl

Integrating Ecosystem and Urban Services in Policy-Making at the Local Scale: The SOFA Framework

Despite ecosystem services having been broadly studied in the scientific literature, they are still hardly integrated in policy-making and landscape management. The lack of operative tools for their application is a main limiting factor of such operationalization. In this work, a framework including 53 livability services produced by the biophysical and socioeconomic subsystem, or by their interaction, was developed considering a local study area. All the services were characterized in terms of the need to access their Service Benefiting Areas (SBAs, the geographical units where the services benefit consumers) from the Use Regions (URs, the usual location of users). Moreover, the Service-Providing Areas (SPAs, the geographical unit where the service is produced) were also classified and characterized. Such analysis, together with empirical observations, helped to classify the spatial relationships between the SPAs, SBAs and URs of each service. In addition to a list of detailed information about all the services included in the framework, a visual scheme representing the different SBA types and an operational flow diagram synthesizing the spatial organization of service flow were designed to apply the methodology in other study areas. Two examples show the practical applicability in policy-making of the whole framework for supporting different aspects of local decision-making

Mapping ecosystem functions and services in Eastern Europe using global-scale data sets

To assess future interactions between the environment and human well-being, spatially explicit ecosystem service models are needed. Currently available models mainly focus on provisioning services and do not distinguish changes in the functioning of the ecosystem (Ecosystem Functions – ESFs) and human use of such functions (Ecosystem Services – ESSs). This limits the insight on the impact of global change on human well-being. We present a set of models for assessing ESFs and ESSs. We mapped a diverse set of provisioning, regulating and cultural services, focusing on services that depend on the landscape structure. Services were mapped using global-scale data sets. We evaluated the models for a sample area comprising Eastern Europe. ESFs are mainly available in natural areas, while hotspots of ESS supply are found in areas with heterogeneous land cover. Here, natural land cover where ESFs are available is mixed with areas where the ESSs are utilized. We conclude that spatial patterns of several ESFs and ESSs can be mapped at global scale using existing global-scale data sets. As land-cover change has different impacts on different aspects of the interaction between humans and the environment, it is essential to clearly distinguish between ESFs and ESSs in integrated assessment studies

The cheeseboard in Dutch fine dining restaurants, II: Integration of the cheese course into the menu

In Dutch fine dining restaurants, the customer who orders a cheeseboard as part of the dessert is served an assortment of cheeses without regard to the dishes that preceded the cheese. The present paper tries to contribute to a more logical order of main dish and cheeseboard. A panel of 12 tasters judged the order of 6 cheeses with three dishes: vegetarian, beef, fish. The most appreciated cheeses were different for each dish. A good match in flavour profile between the dish and the best follow-up cheese was found.Keywords: Fine dining restaurants, menu structure, flavour profiles, flavour style

Local food and authenticity in Greek restaurants

This article aims to understand the role of local food and authenticity for restaurateurs in Athens and Patras, Greece. Nine restaurant owners were interviewed about their current dishes, menu and ingredients. The results of this qualitative research indicate that, for the majority of the respondents, all the ingredients that are produced inside the country are considered local. They also indicated that sourcing local food is problematic, because, although transport distances are small, the total cost of local food items makes it difficult to compete with imported food. However, to customers, both foreign and indigenous, the local origin of ingredients is crucial for the perception of food as authentic.Keywords: authenticity, current dishes, gastronomy, Greece, ingredients, local food, menu, restaurant