Democratic accountability of the food system is often mediated by the food label. Consumers, producers, retailers and civil society activists all interact and contest ethical, health and sustainability issues in the food system via the information and logos on the label.

This presentation asks to what extent the label can facilitate stakeholder engagement with food production practices and governance arrangements behind the label. It uses the controversy over ‘free-range’ egg labeling in Australia to draw conclusions about the capacity of the food label as governance space to address ethical and sustainability issues in the food system.

Christine Parker is a Professor of Law at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. She teaches and researches law and social policy in relation to lawyers’ ethics , corporate regulation and social responsibility, and the regulation of food labelling via both law and voluntary standards.