The agri-food market and eco-oriented consumer law: Towards a new model

Abstract

The agri-food sector requires a comprehensive and cross-cutting policy that also meets the needs of environmental protection. Environmental issues are always dealt with in different ways, depending on the socio-cultural context at any given time. One salient element that emerges, however, is the overexploitation of land, and permanent environmental damage is closely linked to an approach that considers agriculture exclusively as a question of producing goods. The increasing levels of welfare in industrialized countries and the ability to produce a surplus over and above domestic demand have led policymakers and practitioners to neglect the basic function of agricultural activities: Providing food for people. Taking this function as a starting point, we can demonstrate the need to regulate agricultural activity in a way that goes beyond the demands of market logic. We must also recognize the importance of standards in agri-food law that enable consumers to make informed choices. In contemporary society, consumers often choose products not only for their quality or price but on the basis of other intangible values. A growing share of consumption choices take into account the environmental impact of production processes or, more generally, their compliance with ethical rules also linked to energy consumption and the proximity of the market to the area of production. In this sense, we can detect a clear spread of aggregation methods that go beyond the usual patterns [of consumer behavior] and the [growing] role of the consumer in the shift from market-oriented to eco-oriented choice.