ABSTRACT
This chapter questions the seeming existence of a universal notion of responsibility in global food governance by drawing on the concept of ‘moral geographies of responsibility’. The concept describes varying responsible attitudes as the result of expectations that link geographical ordering with morally adequate behaviours. The chapter details the governance issue of food waste and explores the role and responsibilities of transnationally operating retail companies within this particular field. We argue that the scrutiny of retailers' practices of responsibility reveals their spatial differentiation: sharing responsibility for the generation of food waste downstream on the distribution and consumption stage in European countries, while continuing to shift responsibilities for waste upstream to weaker producers and suppliers along food supply chains in Non-European contexts. We suggest a relational ontology as well as close attention to power differentials in the food system for generating a clearer picture of varying responsibility attitudes and attributions.
