Planning informed and ethical eating

Planning Informed and Ethical Eating (PIEE), is a nonprofit membership organization that will develop a virtual community where food consumers gather to address some of the social and ecological inequities currently found within America's food system. The PIEE nonprofit seeks to increase food consumers' active awareness of the foods they eat by supporting the conscious development of dietary guidelines that draw on existing elements of an individual's personality, approach to nutrition, and sense of ethical responsibility to society and the environment. The business plan is informed by an in depth sociological literature review examining the U.S. food system, which is available in Appendix A. This business plan outlines the benefits that PIEE could offer to a liberal arts college that is adopting policies and practices encouraging students to adopt social and environmental values. These benefits stem from the organization's three main objectives to: (1) partner with a liberal arts college and teach students valuable nonprofit communication skills; (2) establish the world's first online library of approaches to food consumption that incorporate a commitment to social justice and protection of the natural environment; and (3) provide an online platform for food consumers to interact and track contemporary social and environmental issues related to food consumption and production. PIEE will engage multiple target audiences including: online advocates, conscientious eaters, nonprofit organizations, and key influencers on food consumption and production politics. Students enrolled in the PIEE curriculum will be exposed to an array of Internet communication technologies that are key elements of the marketing and fundraising plans. PIEE has set a projected launch date a full eighteen months in the future in order to provide time for some critical next steps. These next steps include: securing a home for PIEE at a liberal arts college; assembling the board of directors with representatives from the college as well as from fields relevant to PIEE's mission; and conducting more in depth analyses of the economic climate.;Key words: diet, nonprofit, food production, environmental responsibility, social justice.