ABSTRACT

This conclusion presents some closing thoughts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The book demonstrates three risk discourses the socio-cultural, the risk society and the governmentality risk discourse, that production, processing and consumption of food is not without considerable risks to consumer health and wellbeing, to the environment and to animals, but also sometimes to the people involved in the industry. It also explores the gap between the views of scientific food expertise and scientific social expertise in understanding the societal and cultural fabric of communities and its inhabitants in influencing food choice a gap that is one of several reasons why the populace often ignores expert advice. Multiple factors contribute to explaining consumers resistance towards information processing and rational decision-making. Information may be irrelevant or useless to consumers if it fails to target particular needs or interests.