Organic food is often presented as a healthier, greener or more ethical choice. But when people decide whether to pay extra for organic milk, eggs or vegetables, something else is going on. Organic food belongs to a curious category that economists call “credence goods”. These are the products whose key qualities can’t be verified even after you’ve bought them. There’s no way that you can tell by looking at, tasting or cooking a food item whether it was genuinely produced to organic standards. Instead, you have to take it on…
Posts published in “Lifestyle”
Dear reader, as you read this, the curtain is rising on the most significant and heartwarming moment of the year for countless Chinese families. Wanderers have returned to their nests, and lights are glowing in millions of homes. The opening act of this grand festival is, and always will be, the Nianyefan – the Chinese New Year’s Eve reunion dinner. It is more than just a carnival for the taste buds; it is a totem of emotion and belonging. However, if we zoom out and look at the rising steam…
Valentine’s Day: The Politics and Psychology of Hating Love. Each year Hindu nationalist groups carry out violent crackdowns on couples in public spaces during Valentine’s Day in India. These incidents show how moral policing, group identity politics and anxiety about social change combine to justify control over private emotion and public behaviour. On Feb. 14, activists linked to Hindu nationalist organisations entered NMIMS University in Indore and allegedly vandalised property after claiming that an obscene Valentine’s Day related program was being organized on campus, according to The Telegraph. The university…