After a century of major technical advance, essentially achieved by and for the industrialised countries, the evolution of the food sector in southern countries should no longer be thought of in terms of a "headlong pursuit". In the present context of demographic growth, urbanisation, increasing poverty and disparities, environmental degradation, and increasing remoteness in Man's relationship to his food, new priorities have emerged, and new ethical questions have been raised, mainly related to sustainability and equity. This paper analyses these ethical concerns in the following terms: can the model of food sector development initiated by the industrialised countries be applied to the entire world on a sustainable and equitable basis, given the effects of this development with regard to the energy consumed, the changes in dietary behaviour and the development of new food-related diseases in industrialised or urbanised contexts, the new demands in terms of food safety, the growing loss of consumer confidence in food products, and the questions of biodiversity and disparities.