As long as you don't put partially hydrogenated oils or lead or anything poisonous in it, I say go for it.

I think that there is a place in the world for foods that are not entirely optimal, but nonetheless fine in small quantities in the context of a healthy diet.

It is not your responsibility to produce or sell items that would be maximally healthy for everyone, even if such a thing existed. It's not your responsibility to make sure that they consume your preserves in small quantities, or that their diets aren't already heavily skewed toward carbohydrates.

I don't have a big libertarian bent like some people on here, who will tell you "let people make their own choices on everything." I'm not against the idea of a soda tax, for example. But in your case, I think you are providing a genuine food that people can reasonably enjoy, whether as part of a healthy diet or a standard crappy diet.

The slippery slope of arguing that this is unethical is pretty absurd... is it ok for you to screen your movie? They'll probably be sitting during that time, which will shorten their hip flexors and depress their metabolisms, and the movie itself will depress their neurological activity, thus making them less healthy and possibly decreasing their quality of life in future years, and negatively affecting the epigenetic outcomes for their grandchildren. Shame on you for offering any activity that isn't maximally healthy! ;)

Unlike the libertarians, however, I would draw the line somewhere before "anything goes and let people do what they want with their lives." I think it's unconscionable to sell things with trans fats in them, for example.

I refuse to serve garbage to people I care about.

Beyond that, I go by my gut instinct. For instance, I'm a teacher, and I refuse to use lollies anymore as prizes or treats during class parties. I've become that teacher who brings mini quiches to class parties. And my tray is always empty at the end of the party, leaving me to clean up half-finished bags of chips, soft drinks, and bagged candies. However, sometimes I'm stuck without prizes, or am not in charge of buying them, and it's either candy or no prize at all. It's tricky. Personalised gifts are more expensive, but they're more appreciated, last forever, and don't irritate my sensibilities. Candy is cheap, easy to source, enjoyed in the moment, and it's not like the kids don't eat buckets of the stuff anyway.

I don't think it's a case of being ethical. Being 'Really Not Good' isn't the same as being poisonous - most paleos I know will still occasionally indulge in the RNG stuff from time to time. Vegetarians think meat is RNG, but many will still serve it if their friends really want it (and vice versa - I think veganism is RNG, but I'll still provide that option for vegan associates).

Personally, I would be making paleo food options, if I could afford to do so. You can't change the world, but people who look for sugar- and gluten-free products will appreciate your efforts.

You need to ask yourself. Would I eat these strawberry preserves?

If yes, it is ethical.

If no, then I think you know the answer.

If you are offering a product that most people would consider part of a healthy diet, then I don't think you are doing anything unethical--especially if it is a superior product like a carefully made strawberry jam without artificial ingredients. I make reduced sugar preserves out of my homegrown organic strawberries which my father loves. I am not going to change my father's perspective about food at his age (at least not much), but he enjoys what most Americans would consider a very healthy diet and a little bit of strawberry preserves isn't going to kill him now. And I know he will eat strawberry jam on his toast whether I supply it to him or not. I feel good knowing that my jam is the healthiest jam he could possibly eat and still eat jam.

My mother is a diabetic, and when she comes to my house, I will only feed her paleo meals. By extension, I would not, in good conscience, give or sell strangers food I would not eat myself. Personally, I don't even want to have sugar in my kitchen- to smell it or sell it or anything.

Well, no experimentation needed, get some Pomona's pectin and use honey. You can use as little or much as you like w/Pomona's. I usually use a 1/4c per 6 pint batch. That was before I lost my sugar cravings. Tastes good to the average bear, and the sugar is quite minimal.

Make some seriously good Guacamole. Then they can eat good and you can feel good

Why wouldn't you use Certo especially made to make sugar free jam? All you need to add is a cup of either apple or grape juice to the fruit and it will gel. I make it all the time for my family and the jam actually tastes like fruit not sugar. The colour will not stay as bright as regular jam if it stays around a long time.

I recently made strawberry jam for family/friends with handpicked strawberries and I admit, it was sometimes difficult handing an overweight family member some jam where 5 cups of strawberries were combined with 8 cups of white sugar + pectin. I also worked at a state fair one year serving full-fat soft serve ice cream to little obese kids and yeah, it's kind of a guilt trip (summer job and I was 16 years old, before I knew anything about eating healthy). In the end, I think you have to realize that you're not really an enabler in a sense that you're not forcing them to eat it, they're making that choice. I just try to tell people subtly to enjoy it (any sweets I make them) in moderation.

On another note, a few months ago I was thinking about making/selling paleo snack kit type things to paleo friends (this was before I knew about http://www.stevesoriginal.com/), but I was more worried about legal issues (business license? what if I sold them at something like a farmers market?) and food safety issues (what if I added jerky? food poisoning?), so that kind of dissuaded me. It wasn't really the same situation because dried nuts/meat/fruit can be regarded as "healthy" but even too much of those isn't good for you.

Yes it's unethical.

If you don't like the fact that big businesses are selling you 'food' that is bad for you then you can't turn around and feel it's ok to do the same to other people.

I think it's unethical to sell/give anything to others that you wouldn't eat yourself.

If you need something Blob-inpired, how about selling strawberry smoothies instead? You can call them Paleo Blobs. They'll be popular, delicious, and healthy.

I think this is a grey area. In the end, only you can decide what you feel is right for you.

Fresh is best. I don't eat bread, pita, or pasta. I don't have anything to put jam on. Thank you, but I am not looking for anything to put jam on either. Sugar and salt have made many food items edible. Bread wouldn't be edible without the two. Strawberries on the other hand, can safely be frozen. That is the 'least bad' way to preserve them. That is the way I would store it for winter use. I don't think the strawberries are that great once frozen, and I'm certainly not saying a great jam isn't good. At that point it is principally sugar, with most nutrients lost in the process. On the Paleo Diet we want to eat 'the least processed food'. Jam just isn't a Paleo item. Sure you can be tempted to say, that "it is something i can indulge in for the 15% outside the Paleo Diet". Once you become a master at indulging in Paleo meals, snacks and fruit, your mind doesn't wonder as much towards preserves. If you were saying that you came up with a way to make a Paleo jam, then I would be interested.

Who cares? If they'll buy it, sell it to them. Until you convert them into paleo freaks then they are just going to go eat something 100 times worse after they leave anyways. Your strawberry preserves could sadly be the healthiest thing they eat all day.