FEED 100 & Paradoxes

1. The newest FEED bag, the FEED 100 bag is available now exclusively at Whole Foods Market nation-wide! Each FEED 100 bag will provide 100 school meals to hungry children in Rwanda through the UN World Food Program (www.wfp.org). Help them reach their goal of provide all the WFP school meals in Rwanda for 2008 and buy your FEED 100 bag!

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2. I've often wondered why certain unethical products and practices persist in consumer culture. One theory is that there is a paradox pertaining to accountability. The consumer rationalizes, "If this were unethical, they wouldn't be selling it", and at the same time the producer justifies, "if making this were unethical, there wouldn't be a demand for it". Something as simple as ordering foie gras at a restaurant presents this cultural paradox. The restaurant continues to sell foie gras because people are still demanding it - and people are still choosing foie gras from the menu because the ostensibly virtuous authority of the producer is invoked, and the submissive consumer believes that if it really were that bad, it wouldn't be on the menu in the first place. The producer makes their money, and the consumer - well, consumes.

One explanation for this phenomenon is that the consumer has been trained to grant authority and power to retailers and corporations - and with that, many people believe these authorities aim to 'do the right thing'. On the other hand, the producer believes that, even up against the amazing influence of advertising, the consumer will make educated purchasing decisions.

Whether this is a relationship of convenience (profit & hedonism) or an oversight of economic ethics, the outcome typically results in the perpetuation of destructive things.

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• I would love to hear your thoughts on this phenomenon - is there an actual term for this?