Organic food and moral high ground

 

JULY 25, 2012 Wednesday

Thoughts of Organic Food Reduce Your Desire to Be Helpful

People who viewed images of food labeled "organic" made harsher moral judgments about others' behavior and volunteered 6 minutes less of their time to help someone out, compared with people who viewed nonorganic foods, says Kendall J. Eskine of Loyola University New Orleans. The findings suggest that morality and "ethical" foods occupy the same conceptual "space" in people's minds, with the result that exposure to organic foods helps people affirm their moral identities and reduces their desire to be altruistic, Eskine says.

Source: Wholesome Foods and Wholesome Morals? Organic Foods Reduce Prosocial Behavior and Harshen Moral Judgments