Legal Niches

"Women in Bluejeans"

Posted on March 15, 2010
While its been a period of time since my last entry as a guest blogger, Jim Chen's recent entry on Feminist Agricultural Law serves as a reminder of a related corollary. Specifically contrasting with the ongoing demise of traditional dominant farmers women are actively entering farming as independent owner operators...

Feminist agricultural law

Posted on March 13, 2010
Let me begin with a scholarly confession: Ever since I read Helen Fisher, Anatomy of Love: A Natural History of Mating, Marriage, and Why We Stray (1993), nearly two decades ago, I've longed to write an article called Feminist Agricultural Law (or, alternatively, Agricultural Legal Feminism)...

Problems With FDA Food Additive Approval Process

Posted on March 07, 2010
When I first began teaching food law, I was rather astonished to discover the process that the FDA has for approving the overwhelming number of food additives used in our processed foods. Let me rephrase that - I was astonished by the lack of a cohesive approval process...

In Response to Bunny

Posted on March 06, 2010
In response to Dean Jim Chen's Bunny call out to me. Thanks, Jim, for reminding me of my pet lamb, "Tiger" and my happy childhood on the farm. But, I followed the bunny link, started the news story (rabbit slaughter training) and thought to myself, "No, thanks...

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Bunny: It's what's for dinner (again)

Posted on March 03, 2010
Once again, a leading media source has put rabbit on the menu. The mere prospect of eating rabbit, lamb, or other animals with pet credentials (as tweeted by me) has generated a thoughtful response from Susan Schneider. I wonder anew: Will Susan once again hop to it?

Top 50 biotech blogs

Posted on March 02, 2010
The Jurisdynamics Network is pleased that the Medicareer blog has listed both Agricultural Law and Biolaw among the top 50 biotech blogs.

My Thoughts on the Divide

Posted on March 01, 2010
I just read a news release about the launch of a "social media website" sponsored by the Missouri Beef Industry Council. It's goal is to keep Missouri beef producers "apprised of 'activist attacks' on agriculture." The site, "Farmer Freedom" portrays itself as providing factual information to correct the record in the face of distortions in the media...

AALS Agricultural Law Section

Posted on March 01, 2010
I am posting the following on behalf of David Myers, Professor of Law and Michael and Diane Swygert Teaching Fellow, Valparaiso University, School of Law.Professor Myers, Valparaiso University, School of Law, chairs the AALS Section on Agricultural Law for 2011...

FAO Report: Livestock in the Balance

Posted on February 24, 2010
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations recently released its report, State of Food and Agriculture: Livestock in the Balance. This report concludes that: The livestock sector is expanding rapidly, driven by population growth, rising affluence and urbanization...

Blog symposium on competition in agriculture

Posted on February 11, 2010
The Antitrust and Competition Policy Blog is conducting a symposium on competition in agriculture. Check it out.

Ethanol: The Real Growing Problem

Posted on February 09, 2010
The White House this week released the report, "Growing America?s Fuel." The report, created by President Obama?s Biofuels Interagency Working Group, "lays out a strategy to advance the development and commercialization of a sustainable biofuels industry to meet or exceed the nation?s biofuels targets...

Journal of Food Law & Policy Seeking Articles

Posted on February 08, 2010
The Journal of Food Law & Policy just announced that it is seeking submissions for placement in the Spring 2010 issue, to be published in June 2010. This unanticipated need presents an opportunity for an author to place an article and see it in print in a very short period of time...

USDA Drops Controversial National Animal ID Plan

Posted on February 05, 2010
The New York Times reports that the USDA is dropping plans for the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). USDA Drops Plans to Drop Program to Trace Livestock, Feb. 5, 2010. The department will announce a new traceability plan based on state-based programs and the regulation of livestock shipped in interstate commerce...

Applications to LL.M. Program for Fall 2010

Posted on January 31, 2010
The LL.M. Program in Agricultural & Food Law at the University of Arkansas School of Law offers the nation's only advanced LL.M. degree in either agricultural law or food law & policy.Agricultural Law can be defined as "the study of the network of laws and policies that apply to the production, marketing, and sale of agricultural products, i...

Corporate Farming Articles and the Nebraska Constitution

Posted on January 29, 2010
In an effort at shameless self-aggrandizement, I'm posting links to some recent work I've done.Here is a recent article from the Drake Journal of Agricultural Law in which I evaluate corporate-farming measures in the wake of Jones v. Gale.Here is a recent article from the Nebraska Law Review in which I critically examine the court's opinion in Jones v...

America's New Farmers

Posted on January 29, 2010
The Drake Forum on America's New Farmers: Policy Innovations and Opportunities will be held March 4 and 5, 2010 at the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington, DC.The goal of the Forum isto organize a national discussion on new and beginning farmer policy issues; to gather stakeholders from across the U...

Atrazine and Groundwater

Posted on January 27, 2010
A few weeks ago, there was a post linking to a moving personal story about atrazine use in agriculture and concerns about the potential cancer risk associated with chemical pesticides. This highly charged issue was in the news again this week, and the divide in the agriculture community was readily apparent...

Models of Local Food Distribution

Posted on January 27, 2010
The University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems (CIAS) and University of Wisconsin-Extension Agricultural Innovation Center just released their report, Scaling Up: Meeting the Demand for Local Food.The report detailed their study of eleven models of regional food aggregation and distribution that are successful in linking local farmers with regional food chains...

Dr. King and Agricultural Law

Posted on January 18, 2010
Please consider the issues of discrimination and diversity and their impact on agriculture in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.For a reference to some of the resources available, see today's LL.M. in Agricultural & Food Law post.

CPRBlog: Atrazine, Syngenta's Confidential Data, EPA's Review, and the Five Stages of Grief

Posted on January 13, 2010
My colleague, Sandi Zellmer's, recent post at the Center for Progressive reform offers a compelling story about atrazine. I encourage you to read it.

Private Sector Rural Economic Development - An Example from Namibia

Posted on January 10, 2010
As part of my interest in rural development, natural resources management, and agricultural land use, I recently spent twelve days traveling to and around Namibia to research how its citizens market the rural landscape. More specifically, I was interested in the legal arrangements folks have used to help them develop agricultural operations (primarily ranches) into enterprises that encompass a variety of income streams...

Join me for a book discussion

Posted on January 05, 2010
A few months ago, Oxford published When Cooperation Fails: The International Law and Politics of Genetically Modified Foods, an interesting new book by Gregory Shaffer and Mark Pollack. Today, Opinio Juris is hosting a one-day book discussion about the book, with yours truly as a guest blogger...

AALS Open Source Program: Food, Law, & Values

Posted on January 04, 2010
At the American Association of Law School's Annual Meeting in New Orleans, there will be a special open source program presented on Food, Law & Values. This program will be held on Friday, January 8, 4:00 ? 6:00 p.m.The agenda for the program, provided by organizer Professor Donna M...

Sustainable South Carolina Local Food Systems Workshop

Posted on January 03, 2010
This announcement came in from Beth Crocker, J.D. Drake University School of Law, LL.M. Agricultural Law, University of Arkansas School of Law. Beth serves as Counsel for the South Carolina Department of Agriculture and has been instrumental in their impressive local foods campaign...

NY Students Reveal Mislabeled Food Through DNA Testing

Posted on January 03, 2010
Not everyone reads the details on their food labels. And there is a lively debate about how much information to provide to consumers, how to provide that information, and how much our "storied food" tells a true story. However, I recently read about the exposure of real food fraud, thanks to a New York high school DNA testing project...

America's New Farmers: Policy Innovations and Opportunities

Posted on December 28, 2009
The Drake Forum on America's New Farmers: Policy Innovations and Opportunities will take place Thursday and Friday March 4-5, 2010, at the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington DC. This two day meeting will bring together policy advocates, government officials, and beginning farmers from across the nation to consider how best to support policies creating the next generation of America's farmers...

U.S. Food Safety System In Serious Disrepair

Posted on December 12, 2009
More than 50% of food manufacturers are unaware of their legal obligation to provide the FDA with updated contact information that the FDA relies on to deal with emergencies, such as Salmonella or other forms of food contamination. According to a Report released yesterday by The Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, federal auditors found that approximately 48% of surveyed manufacturers failed to provide the FDA with accurate contact information and approximately 25% provided no emergency contact information at all...

Hunger Crisis Among Those Who Harvest Our Food

Posted on December 10, 2009
Consider the irony of this when you select fresh fruit or vegetables at the supermarket.In Hard Times Even Harder, National Public Radio reports that the children of migrant farm laborers inn North Carolina are more than 3 times more likely to be of "food insecure...

Agricultural Law Information

Posted on December 06, 2009
The December issue of The Agricultural Law Brief, published by Ross Pifer Director of The Agricultural Law Resource and Reference Center at Penn State Law was just released. This issue contains information on the following topics: (1) Litigation filed by Dimock landowners against a natural gas company for environmental contamination;(2) The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009;(3) Pennsylvania Supreme Court order in ACRE litigation;(4) Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration draft strategy; and(5) World Summit on Food Security...

Ag Law Professor to Farmers: Step Up on Climate Change

Posted on November 30, 2009
The following appeared in the Des Moines Register, Sunday, Novenber 29, 2009. It is reprinted with the permission of the author, Neil Hamilton. Professor Hamilton is the Dwight D. Opperman Chair of Law at the Drake University School of Law in Des Moines, Iowa and also serves as the Director of the Drake Agricultural Law Center...

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