Lades and Nova (2022) on the Ethics of Nudging Folks Away from Meat

Leonhard Lades and Federica Nova, “Ethical Considerations when Using Behavioural Insights to Reduce People’s Meat Consumption.” University College Dublin, Geary WP2022/09, October 25, 2022 (pdf). 

• Food choices depend on the choice architecture, so nudge-style, demand-side policies like instituting plant-based meals as defaults can reduce meat consumption

• Examples of food nudges include: vegan or vegetarian defaults; positioning of plant-based items at compelling locations; providing “sustainability” labels; and conveying information about growing low-meat social norms 

• Nudges sometimes present ethical questions; the authors recommend using the FORGOOD method to systematically consider potential ethical issues 

• FORGOOD: Fairness (distributional impacts); Openness (avoiding manipulation, with graphic warning labels or very persuasive defaults as examples of nudge-style policies that could  be ethically problematic); Respect (for autonomy, freedom of choice, non-stigmatization…); Goals (overcoming internalities? externalities?); Opinions (public acceptability, before or after the nudge?); Options (policy alternatives to nudges); and, Delegation (can choice architects use their power wisely?)

• "In short, the paper suggests that choice architects should apply behavioural interventions to reduce meat consumption only when these interventions are FORGOOD [p. 14]."