Does engaging in ethical consumption make shopping more enjoyable? Or does contending with social and environmental impacts in the supermarket add stress and worry to the practice of buying food? In this paper, I contribute to debates over ethical consumption and the shopping experience by directly addressing the question: Is ethical consumption associated with more enjoyable everyday shopping, specifically where food is concerned? Based on a survey of faculty, staff, and students at a large university, I show that even when controlling for socioeconomic characteristics and for where people shop, consumers who buy a range of ethical foods are more likely to take pleasure in food shopping as a whole. In other words, doing right may lead to feeling good—and this connection may represent not just an important motivation for acting on ethical values while shopping but also an integral part of what it means to be an ethical consumer.
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