Many of our favorite foods - such as beef, cod, avocado and soy - raise many ethical questions because of their close association with the environment and their role in influencing societal and natural balance, such as forests, child labor, pollution and water scarcity.

A report in the British Guardian newspaper highlighted the most controversial foods around the world and the opinion of experts, and wondered about the beneficial and harmful foods in society and the land.

Avocado
Noting that avocado lovers around the world are indirectly causing deforestation, she said that drought-stricken farmers in Chile have been forced to drain rivers to get water to irrigate the fruit.

Canned salad
Every year in the UK, 40% of canned salads are disposed of in plastic bags, because this meal often ends up in the garbage container because of its specified shelf life.

In 2017, Tesco introduced reusable bags of salads, but this initiative has not been able to put an end to the health risks of canning vegetables, such as the use of plastic and carbon footprint during the transport process, as well as the loss of flavor of vegetables, so it is recommended to eat fresh vegetables.

Beef
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), cattle raised for consumption of meat and milk are among the animal species responsible for most of the greenhouse gas emissions, although there is no conclusive evidence that pasture cattle have environmental damage.

These permanent pastures are carbon pools and will result in the "release of carbon sequestered into the soil," according to investigative journalist Joanna Pletman.

cod
The Marine Conservation Society of the United Kingdom says fish stocks in British waters are in a deplorable state, due to lack of respect for fishing laws and safety of marine resources.

Norway is the first country in the world to introduce cod rations, while its fishing culture is built around the quality, sustainability and safety standards of this marine resource.

Butter nuts and palm oil
The newspaper stressed the need to verify that butter nuts do not contain palm oil, which is one of the largest causes of deforestation in the world, although there are sustainable alternatives without mentioning the range of problems created by the nuts industry itself, such as water scarcity, child labor and human rights violations.

The writer of the report that it is better to try to buy locally produced nuts that are easy to know the conditions of manufacture, while replacing nuts butter with peanut butter, which does not consume much water and facilitate the process of nitrogen stabilization and contribute to the fight against soil erosion.

soybean
According to the author, the amount of soy consumed directly by humans is relatively small, so it is misleading to put warnings on deforestation on tofu milk cans and soy milk.

The real problem is the manufacture of meat, fish and dairy products whose industry is mostly based on soybeans from around the world, and it is almost impossible to know whether the organic products you buy come from Brazil and Argentina, where soybean farming causes deforestation.

Chocolate
Most of the chocolate bars of major brands contain soybeans and palm oil, and the ethical burdens of making chocolate are not just about cocoa cultivation, the writer said.

Most of the cocoa comes from smallholder farmers in Ghana and Ivory Coast who bear the brunt of price fluctuations and do not benefit from their financial returns. The families of cocoa farmers in Ivory Coast earn only 37% of average income.

Octopus
The ethics of octopus hunting is ambiguous, and this marine animal is highly intelligent while overwhelming evidence has confirmed that it can go through pain-like feelings.

Marine Products
The production of warm-water seafood farms in countries such as Thailand, Sri Lanka and Madagascar is destroying mangrove marshes in these areas, as consumer appetite for these products has increased.