Working Out a Sustainable Diet: The Contested Ethics of Food Consumption in the Netherlands, 1960–85

Abstract

From the 1960s onwards, the sustainability of the modern diet became a topic of fierce discussion in industrialised societies. Vocal critics proposed radical alternatives to the prevailing modes of production, but their impact remained fairly modest. To understand how Western European countries nonetheless became ‘light green societies’ (Michael Bess), this article assesses the distinct interpretation of sustainable food consumption which was championed by consumer organisations since the 1960s. Tracing the steps of the Nutrition Education Bureau (Voorlichtingsbureau voor de Voeding) and the Consumers Union (Consumentenbond) in the Netherlands between 1960 and 1985, it analyses the reactions of these well-known intermediaries to the alternatives proposed by more radical environmentalists. The article demonstrates that after a period of reluctancy, the position of the two consumers organisations evolved, with both acknowledging that the health of consumers and the health of the planet were inextricably linked. Adopting long-standing consumer concerns, the two organisations popularised a definition of sustainable food consumption which took the individual's right to choose as a vantage point and prioritised concerns about health and affordability.