Food labeling is a key mechanism for consumers to identify higher-welfare animal products, but label quality and reliability vary dramatically across systems.
Effective welfare labeling creates market incentives that can drive systemic improvements across the food system. However, the proliferation of meaningless welfare marketing terms undermines consumer trust and disadvantages farmers genuinely meeting higher welfare standards. Mandatory, independently audited, outcome-based labeling schemes are the gold standard for connecting consumer choices to genuine welfare improvements. Advocacy for rigorous labeling standards is a high-impact way to support farm animal welfare at scale.