Facing global challenges like climate change, conflicts, and vulnerable international trade chains, ensuring access to sufficient, safe, and affordable food is paramount. The VUB, in collaboration with nine other international universities, is establishing the IJRG-ALFS research group. The aim is to explore the role of law and policy in promoting more sustainable food systems and better protecting the right to food.
Led by Professor Kim Van der Borght and researcher Jorge Freddy Milian-Gomez, the group will analyze diverse legal frameworks and their practical application. "The rules governing how food is produced, traded, and distributed vary greatly from country to country," explains Kim Van der Borght. "Furthermore, wars, trade conflicts, climate change, and economic crises have direct consequences on food access. This makes food law particularly relevant today, as it addresses the fundamental question of how we ensure people have access to sufficient and affordable food."
Food systems face significant challenges: climate change, the shift towards more sustainable agriculture, technological developments, and disruptions in international trade chains are putting existing rules and policy frameworks under pressure. Simultaneously, access to sufficient and quality food remains uncertain for many. Law and policy play a crucial role in how governments, producers, and companies manage these challenges, covering regulations for food safety and labeling, international trade in agricultural products, farmer protection, and the legal implications of new technologies. How the right to food can be effectively guaranteed is also a key part of the research.
Jorge Milian-Gomez emphasizes: "The right to food is more than an abstract legal principle. It's about ensuring people actually have access to sufficient and suitable nutrition and that governments and institutions can fulfill their responsibility to protect this right. By comparing different legal systems and experiences, we can better understand which legal and institutional solutions contribute to this goal."
Besides the VUB, nine other universities are participating, including the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, Universitas Airlangga in Indonesia, the University of Almería in Spain, and the University of Parma in Italy. This collaboration brings together expertise from various legal, economic, social, and scientific contexts. Researchers aim to develop joint research projects, apply for international research funding, and create new opportunities for education, training, and collaboration.
The research focuses on three interconnected themes: law and regulation of food systems (how legislation governs food safety, quality, labeling, trade, and food system operations), sustainability, innovation, and technology (how law can address agricultural sustainability, climate resilience, digitalization, and technological innovation in the food chain), and food, rights, and social justice (how the right to food, farmers' rights, equal opportunities, and access to resources can be better protected). The international comparison aims to highlight differences and shortcomings in regulations and share knowledge about applicable solutions.
This international cooperation builds on the expertise developed at the VUB in food law and the legal regulation of food systems. By structurally bringing together researchers from different regions, the university aims to further expand this expertise and strengthen the connection between academic research, policy, and societal issues, ultimately contributing to more sustainable, resilient, and just food systems.
