Due July, 15 12:00pm CST
Case Study #1: Use the following case and apply Catholic social theory to it.
Each student will produce a paper consisting of at least 3 pages (750 words). The papers will be typed in double space, 1.25" margins and 12 pt Times New Roman font. This paper should ethically analyze a case. Links to the cases to be analyzed for this assignment can be found below.
• In this paper, students should focus on applying the ethical theory of virtue ethics and/or conscience to the case.
• The purpose of this paper is to deepen one's inquiry into the subject matter by applying ethical principles to business practices.
• This is not a superficial opinion paper, i.e.,what one liked or didn't like about a particular case, or a simple statement of how one would resolve the case.
• This paper should focus first on demonstrating knowledge of an ethical theory or principle.
• The paper should then thoroughly apply that theory and principle to the case.
• You are not being graded on your opinion, or what you liked or didn't like about a particular case, so spending a great deal of time and space addressing these issues is not going to improve your grade.
• Students should especially avoid sharing their opinions when these are inconsistent with, or contradict the conclusions that logically flow from the ethical analysis.
• Students should avoid attempting to apply every theory and principle learned in the class to given case. This will only result in a superficial analysis.
• This paper should reflect a serious grappling with the challenging issues raised by these ethical dilemmas.
Case: Do You Know What You Are Eating?
When walking into a typical chain grocery store in the United States, one encounters a dizzying array of choices year-round. Strawberries, asparagus, and corn on the cob are available in Chicago in January. Almost any imaginable type of cereal is sold, from bran sticks and dried fruit to Reese’s peanut butter cup or Oreo flavors. Shoppers can find both fresh baked goods and processed products with long shelf lives. Steaks, pork loin, salmon, or king crab legs are available. The products come from all over the world.
With the obesity epidemic and exploding numbers of people with type 2 diabetes, both of which are and will continue to put greater pressure and cost on our health-care system, there has been increased scrutiny of what’s on those grocery store shelves and on the lack of knowledge that people have when it comes to what they eat, what a serving size is, and whether companies are or should be involved in the solution. Many people don’t know how many calories should be consumed each day to maintain a healthy weight or what the maximum amount of sugar is that should be consumed in one day. The same is true for sodium.
Many blogs, websites, and grass-roots movements encourage people to educate themselves on their food choices. The purpose of these is not to keep consumers from enjoying a jelly doughnut or Cheetos, but to help them understand what they consume in the aggregate and how to make generally healthy choices. Many websites will advise sticking to the perimeter of any grocery store—that’s where the fresh produce, meat, fish and seafood, and dairy sections are located. They will also tell you that when shopping in the middle aisles, choose only items that have ingredients that can be pronounced and identified and appear close in form and substance to their original source in nature.
One ingredient that receives a lot of attention by consumers, food producers, and powerful, multinational agribusiness companies is high-fructose corn syrup. USDA research estimates that per capita consumption of high-fructose corn syrup in 1970 was 0.3 pounds, per person, per year. In 1980 that rose to CMS 10.70: lb. per year. In 2012, it reached 27.1 lb. per year. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach research shows that a 2-liter bottle of soda contains more corn than an 18-ounce box of corn flakes—there are 15 ounces in the soda and 12.9 ounces in the cereal box. The pancake syrup on store shelves is corn syrup with brown coloring added, unless pure maple syrup is specifically noted on the label. The cost difference is a good indicator of the ingredients. The jelly on a PBJ sandwich might have fruit as its first ingredient, or the first ingredient might be corn syrup. CapriSun offers two types of drinks: one type that contains fruit juice and another that has corn syrup instead of actual fruit juice. Corn syrup is used as a sweetener in many products on the interior of the grocery store because food producers add sweetener to almost everything, including applesauce and canned peaches, and because it is cheaper than actual sugar. One reason it is cheaper is that the US government heavily subsidizes corn growers, so they aren’t subjected to the pricing pressures of supply and demand in the same way that producers of nonsubsidized products are.
Many consumer grass-roots movements have forced food producers to stop using high-fructose corn syrup and return to the original recipes of products. A 2010 New York Times story explains how ConAgra eventually decided, due to consumer pressure, to take corn syrup out of it’s Hunt’s brand ketchup. The companies that make Gatorade, Pepsi, Wheat Thins, and Starbucks sandwiches have all made changes to their products due to consumer pressure.
The companies that produce and sell high-fructose corn syrup argue that it is no worse for the human body than sugar, but it is so much cheaper. They also have made efforts to change the language they have to use in food labels, such as to drop high fructose from the description. Both sides arguing about the inclusion of corn syrup in foods cite various studies supporting their own positions. What is clear though, is that sweeteners, sugar or corn syrup, along with other unhealthy additions, such as artificial colors, very high sodium levels, etc., pervade processed foods. Even if people agree that more Americans should be educated about how to make healthy food choices, whose responsibility is that? How are people educated?
Notes:
Your first case study is due this coming week and I thought I would take the opportunity to mention a few things that should help you as you work on these assignments.
1) Avoid the temptation to immediately take sides on a case, or to advocate for, or to engage in a diatribe against a company, or person. The point isn't to be on the right side, it is whether or not you can define, illustrate and apply moral theory. You certainly can have an opinion and express moral approval or disapproval for actions taken in these cases, but make sure your paper is about applying ethical theory and not about how much you despise a company, an action, or an attitude.
2) Since I am grading you for your ability to describe, illustrate and apply moral theory, it is to your advantage if you begin your papers with an ethical discussion and to later move on to a discussion of the case.
3) Avoid simply retelling the case story descriptively. I have memorized these cases and don't need a recap. Again, I am not grading you on your ability to paraphrase a story. I am grading you on the ability to accurately describe, illustrate and apply ethical theory and principles.
4) Instead, pick out those actions in the case that you think are morally significant. (Often there are many different actions being taken by a variety of actors.) Analyze these actions, taking them apart and digging deeper. If the characters have not expressed their motivations or they have not been addressed, use your imagination to construct likely motivations for the various actors. Be fair. Not everyone who has done a bad thing necessarily has evil motivations. Similarly, not everyone who has done a good thing has good intentions. Most people have a variety of motives for their actions. Imagine yourself in these circumstances and what your own motivations might be. Companies and their agents are profit motivated, but most people dedicate their life to more than just profit. The more you recognize the complexity of motivation and intention, the better you will become at the art of ethical reasoning.
5) Use your imaginations in regards to the act-in-itself and the consequences when evaluating a case. What realistic options were available to the actors in the story? What options were they aware of, and which ones could they have been aware of? How do you think each of these options would have played out had they been chosen?
6) Fact check your paper. In the past, many papers and posts have based their argument on information that was factually incorrect.
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