Safe or Not Safe: Deciding What Risks to Accept in Our Environment and Food

Based on an EU workshop at the end of 2005, the book discusses risk and our food supply. The introductory chapter will discuss all aspects of risk and how it applies to food, from risk classification to risk management. Following a discussion of risk, the authors will present three different case studies that will emphasize the following issues: • What do we want as individuals, as a society • What is the political context of the risk discussion • When do we act and what are the costs of not acting/acting • International trade and legal issues • Moral dimensions of decision making • How do we deal with the disproportionate "power" of the various stakeholders • Rationality/emotive aspects of argumentation (connection between perception /live experiences, knowledge) • What are facts- and do they change with time • Psychological aspects: rapture of trust; the need for certainty; connection between danger, fear and risk