Food justice and ethical eating: perils and possibilities within Australian food movements

Ethical food movements have grown significantly in recent decades. This thesis employs a food justice conceptual framework to examine how ethical food movements are evolving in the Australian context. The thesis focuses on 46 key non-governmental organisations (NGOs) promoting ethical eating and four focus groups involving ethical eaters. It examines how and why people are engaging in ethical eating and the tensions and complexities that are emerging. It argues for a more reflexive, nuanced and egalitarian conception of ethical eating that recognises the tensions, tradeoffs and barriers to engagement faced by consumers. Understanding ethical eating as a continuum or imperfect process allows for such complexity to be viewed as inevitable, while still recognizing the value in developing ethical eating repertoires. It also details the ways that NGOs are working to help consumers negotiate the constraining factors that limit their consumptive choices. In adopting a food justice lens this thesis highlights the importance of responding to food system injustices, while also ensuring advocates retain a critical eye on the substantive ‘justness’ of their own actions and pronouncements.