Innovation of food, innovation of Europe? (DFG)

This research project explores discourses and practical applications of innovation, digital technology and “sustainable” agriculture at the EU level and in Germany. Using a multi-sited, ethnographic approach, it examines agricultural practice, policy and debates on contemporary agriculture beyond usual comparisons, such as “high-tech” versus “(s)low / no tech”, and what (pan-)national, societal and political visions are reflected here.
At the EU level, the project examines political debates and implicit visions of innovation and digitization in sustainability targets within the European Green Deal, particularly in the Farm-to-Fork strategy. In Germany, the project focuses on regenerative/agroecological agricultural approaches and the role that innovation and digital technologies play, or ought to play, in these applications. More information about this subproject can be found here.