Innovating Food, Innovating the Law. An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Challenges in the Agro-Food Sector

The term innovation has been widely used to refer to the economic and social implications triggered by science and technology. However, little attention has been paid “legal innovation,” namely innovation of legal concepts, constructs, and processes, both of “hard” and ‘soft law.’ The agro-food sector represents a strategic domain for innovation in the legal fi eld. In fact, if agriculture, food production and distribution are rooted in the history of humankind, they have been radically reshaped jointly by techno-science, policy, and the law. This volume provides an overview of four major areas of interest. The fi rst one deals with the impact of information and access to knowledge on new rights in the agro-food sector; the second focuses on the role of culture and value systems related to food and food habits; the third area concerns the legal requirements for safety in a globalized world; the fourth aims to explore new regulatory approaches to promoting and rewarding innovation in the agro-food sector.