From Words to Deeds: Harnessing Innovation for an EU Agrifood System Transition

This paper presents a keynote speech delivered at the 2025 AIEAA conference in Pisa, titled “From Words to Deeds: Harnessing Innovation for an EU Agrifood System Transition”. It critically examines the current EU innovation landscape in food and agriculture, arguing that prevailing policy frameworks prioritise incremental efficiency over transformative change. Drawing on recent political developments, including the rollback of the Farm to Fork Strategy, the paper highlights how vested interests, agricultural exceptionalism, and reductionist notions of competitiveness constrain progress. It advocates for innovation strategies that are normatively grounded, inclusive, and politically attuned, and underscores the need to reframe innovation as a means to achieve ecological sustainability, social justice, and democratic renewal. The paper also reflects on the roles of researchers, calling for a shift towards honest brokerage and greater engagement with the political economy of food systems. Ultimately, it calls for a recalibration of innovation policy to support genuine, structural transformation.