Ethical eating on a student budget

The lowdown on ethical eating

We’re always hearing reasons why eating a certain food from a certain place is ‘un-ethical’.

The RSPCA say that each chicken has less space than an A4 size of paper, in which to move around.

We are told we should eat free-range poultry, because of the cruelty battery farmed chickens are subjected to. The RSPCA say that each chicken has less space than an A4 size of paper, in which to move around.

The word ‘organic’ has become something of a fashion as far as food in concerned, restaurant menus boasting: ‘Made with 100% organic lamb’, or ‘Juiced from 100% organic oranges’.

One of the arguments – pro-vegetarianism – is that eating meat is bad for the environment. In producing succulent sirloin steaks or greasy fat saturated burgers, a vast amount of land is destroyed. Since 1960 over 25% of Central American forests have been lost to beef production alone.

Fair trade is another big issue when it comes to food. The Fairtade brand aims to improve prices, working conditions, and give fair terms of trade to farmers in the developing world.

See the Fairtrade website for more details.

Student food shopping

'Being a student' gets used as an excuse for a lot of things. Hangovers, regularly staying in bed until noon: these things are all part of the stereotypical student lifestyle. When approached by an Oxfam rep on the street a likely response is: 'Sorry, I can't really afford to help you at the moment. I'm a student.'

Consider how much per week you might spend on beer and on other frivolities; we so regularly spend 40p in a vending machine, or £1 on chips on the way home from Ziggy's.

But the line has to be drawn somewhere. The Yorker went to Costcutter to investigate how much it would cost to eat the Fairtrade, free-range, dolphin-friendly way, in comparison to what the student might usually buy. These were the results:

Fairtrade pasta sauce: 14.3p/100g Knorr pasta sauce: 31.4p/100g

Fairtrade ketchup: 38.2p/100g Heinz ketchup: 28.9p/100g

Fairtrade stir-fry sauce: £1.11/100g Sharwoods stir-fry sauce: 76.4p/100g

Fairtrade tea: 2.4p pea teabag. Economy tea: 1.2p per teabag.

Fairtrade hot chocolate: £1.08/100g Cadbury's drinking chocolate: 58p/100g

So on the whole, it does cost more to eat ethically. But consider how much per week you might spend on beer and on other frivolities; we so regularly spend 40p in a vending machine, or £1 on chips on the way home from Ziggy's. It doesn’t seem to be so far-fetched an idea that you could cut down on some of these, and use that money to buy a jar of fair trade stir-fry sauce in stead?

Or when you buy your next box of teabags, why not splash out and buy fair trade ones. With the amount of time a box of tea bags lasts, the extra cost will be spread out over a month or two at least.

But if you are keen to eat ethically, and buying ethically branded products on a larger scale seems unfeasible, then there are other, cheaper ways of eating ethically. Eating vegetarian food is ‘ethical’ on many levels. Of course there is the reason that many people become vegetarian: the cruel treatment of animals. But there are also other considerations.

Think of a farmer with one acre of land: this land, like the deforested areas in Central America can be used to farm cattle; and from an acre of land, 165 pounds of beef can be produced. If the same plot was used to grow potatoes, however, 22,000 pounds of potatoes could be yielded.

If everyone went vegetarian - for just one day a week even - and cut down the demand for meat, much more food could be produced; and this food could be distributed much more fairly.

‘Ethical eating’ in York

One of the best places to shop for a wide variety of veg that can be used in veggie cooking is the local market in the centre of town. As an added bonus much of the produce is seasonal and locally produced; this means less air miles as well as tastier food. This month, May, is the month for English asparagus and cherries.

And if you're fed up of slaving over a hot stove and are in need of a little gourmet treatment, El Piano is a gorgeous little restaurant down Grape Lane whose menu is all vegan and gluten-free.

El Piano

And the food is not staid, tasteless gloop; open the door and you are immediately enticed by the rich and sensuous spices wafting from the open kitchen. On the menu is a delicate yet spicy 'thai thai' with red peppers and lemon grass; or a creamy, vibrantly orange sweet potato mousse. If you want ethical indulgence there is also the brownie or the seasonal fruits cheesecake.

For a quick stop in town, the Organic Sandwich Co offers a delicious range.

When it comes to shopping, look out for ethically accredited Innocent smoothies that contain no preservatives and fund afforestation (the process of establishing a forest on land that is not a forest) programmes. Divine chocolate is not only delicious but fair trade. Also look out for the marine stewardship council and dolphin friendly logos on fish.

So, from nipping in to Costcutter or YOUR:SHOP for a chocolate bar, to your weekly supermarket trip, to going out for a meal in town; ethical products are all around, and you can make ethical choices.

And even if you don't think your student loan can justifiably be spent on fair-trade stir-fry sauce, a certain amount of ethical eating is not totally unachievable for students.

It is perhaps a matter of prioritising what is important to you, and achieving a balance between the economic and the ethical. It’s not easy, but it may just be worth it in the long run.

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