Tjidde Tempels (1986) studied political science at the Radboud University Nijmegen and philosophy at Utrecht University. Since March 2014 he is working on his PhD project, which focusses on the moral grounds of corporate social responsibility in the food industry, with emphasis on responsibility for public health. The study is supervised by Marcel Verweij and Vincent Blok.

Food and Virtues: Corporate Social Responsibility in the Food Industry
In his PhD project Tjidde Tempels investigates the possibility of a corporate responsibility for public health in the context of the food and beverage industry. The role industry in the rise of non-communicable diseases (obesity, diabetes type II) is a topic of controversy, as the behavior of 'Big Food' and 'Big Soda' reflects a split corporate personality as several companies contribute to public health problems and simultaneously engage in activities to prevent them.

In his research he aims to find out what can be reasonably expected from these companies in remedying public health problems. Inspired by the works of political philosophers Iris Marion Young and David Miller, and the debate in business ethics on political corporate responsibility, he tries to find normative grounds for corporate responsibility for public health while simultaneously reflecting on the scope of this responsibility.