Digital Commons Network^™

The Carbon Tax Vacuum And The Debate About Climate Change Impacts: Emission Taxation Of Commodity Crop Production In Food System Regulation, Gabriela Steier

Pace Environmental Law Review

The scientific consensus on climate change is far ahead of U.S. policy on point. In fact, the U.S. has a legal vacuum of carbon taxation while climate change continues to impact the codependence of agriculture and the environment. As this Article shows, carbon taxes follow the polluter-pays model, levying taxes on the highest greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions—and contributions to climate change. But this is not only unsustainable; it would also undermine agricultural production and, thus, food security. This Article describes how the law can regulate climate change contributions and promote adaptation and mitigation supported through carbon taxes in the agricultural …

Food Sustainability In The Age Of Complex, Global Supply Chains, Steph Tai

Arkansas Law Review

Food production has become more complex over time. Moreover, we are producing food in an increasingly global, rather than local, manner. How can demands for sustainability be reinforced in this age of complex, global supply chains? This essay focuses on three key features of the modern food supply chain: the variety of components, the complexity of the chain itself, and diversity of “enforcement” mechanisms in food production supply chains. These features suggest that traditional governmental tools (such as command and control measures) and contractual tools (such as performance standards) may not be sufficient to ensure sustainable production methods.

Ethical Cannabis Lawyering In California, Francis J. Mootz Iii

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

Cannabis has a long history in the United States. Originally, doctors and pharmacists used cannabis for a variety of purposes. After the Mexican Revolution led to widespread migration from Mexico to the United States, many Americans responded by associating this influx of foreigners with the use of cannabis, and thereby racializing and stigmatizing the drug. After the collapse of prohibition, the federal government repurposed its enormous enforcement bureaucracy to address the perceived problem of cannabis, despite the opposition of the American Medical Association to this new prohibition. Ultimately, both the states and the federal government classified cannabis as a dangerous …

Sb 17 - Alcoholic Beverages, Lauren A. Newman, Erin N. Winn

Georgia State University Law Review

Georgia law previously allowed counties and municipalities to permit the sale of alcoholic beverages on Sundays from 12:30 P.M. until 11:30 P.M. This Act, deemed “the Brunch Bill,” authorizes the counties and municipalities that have affirmatively voted by referendum to sell alcoholic beverages on Sundays to sell them earlier, at 11:00 A.M., if approved by a second referendum vote. This change applies to restaurants that make at least 50% of their revenue from the sale of food and hotels, and Georgia wineries.

Unrealistic Expectations: The Federal Government's Unachievable Mandate For State Cannabis Regulation, Rebecca Sweeney

Washington Law Review

The states that have legalized cannabis maintain a complicated relationship with the federal government. Since the Ogden Memorandum was issued in 2009, the federal government has left regulation of cannabis to the discretion of the states. That policy has recently shifted. In 2018, former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a new memorandum that rescinded guidance for states about how to structure the legalization of cannabis. The federal government’s current position is now ideologically aligned with that of states like Nebraska and Oklahoma. These states chose not to legalize cannabis and instead adhere to the Controlled Substances Act’s classification of …

The Crazy Maze Of Food Labeling And Food Claims Laws, Patrick Meyer

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Article critiques the role of the FDA in providing consumers with accurate and relevant food label information, identifies impediments in the pursuit of its mission, and offers solutions to those impediments.

Part I of this Article traces the history of U.S. food labeling and health claims laws. Current food laws and their regulation have developed over time. The first federal legislation was passed in the early 1900s. The food laws of today have certainly been influenced by past food laws, which were largely a reaction to societal events. A brief summary of the historical development of our nation’s …

The Pharma Barons: Corporate Law's Dangerous New Race To The Bottom In The Pharmaceutical Industry, Eugene Mccarthy

Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review

In this Article, I argue that drug companies have created a highly profitable but dangerous business model by employing the same legal tactics as the nineteenth-century “robber barons,” the group of financiers who orchestrated corporate law’s infamous race to the bottom. Like these historical financiers, drug company executives have captured the legal apparatus and regulatory bodies that oversee them. In so doing, they have transformed the law from a system of governance into a set of enabling doctrines. The pharmaceutical industry has turned legislation intended to protect the public into a legal justification for marketing ineffective and unsafe prescription drugs. …

Life Cycle Costing And Food Systems: Concepts, Trends, And Challenges Of Impact Valuation, Katherine Fiedler, Steven Lord, Jason J. Czarnezki

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Our global food systems create pervasive environmental, social, and health impacts. Impact valuation is an emerging concept that aims to quantify all environmental, social, and health costs of food systems in an attempt to make the true cost of food more transparent. It also is designed to facilitate the transformation of global food systems. The concept of impact valuation is emerging at the same time as, and partly as a response to, calls for the development of legal mechanisms to address environmental, social, and health concerns. Information has long been understood both as a necessary precursor for regulation and as …

Swimming Upstream: The Need To Resolve Inconsistency In The Fda's Fishy Regulatory Scheme, Kelsie Kelly

Journal of Law and Policy

The citizens of the United States rely on the federal government to maintain the safety of their food through effective regulation. As the technology used to develop food has advanced, the outermost limits of the current regulatory framework are being tested. The result has been a circuitous and ineffective attempt to regulate transgenic organisms, intended for human consumption, using multiple agencies and a patchwork of laws. The ability to incorporate DNA from nearly any organism into the genome of another provides immense potential for innovative new food products, but may also allow for unintended health and environmental consequences. Proper regulation …

Reversal Of Fortune: Moving Pharmaceuticals From Over-The-Counter To Prescription Status?, Lars Noah

Villanova Law Review

No abstract provided.

Preventing Drug-Related Deaths At Music Festivals: Why The "Rave" Act Should Be Amended To Provide An Exception For Harm Reduction Services, Robin Mohr

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Prescription For Biopharmaceutical Patents: A Cure For Inter Partes Review Ailments, Alex A. Jurisch

Seattle University Law Review

The patent system in the United States was forever changed with the introduction of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) in September of 2011. The AIA brought sweeping changes to American patent law in order to align the U.S. with much of the rest of the world by changing the invention priority from a “first to invent” to a “first to file” system. The first section of this note will provide a brief overview of the substance of inter partes reviews and some of the most critical negatives that have become apparent since 2013. The second section of this Note …

Commentary On The Investigation: The April 20, 2001 Peruvian Shootdown Accident, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article critiques an investigative report officially intended (1) to establish the facts and circumstances contributing to the April 20, 2001 interdiction of a United States (US) missionary floatplane and the death of two US citizens and (2) to make recommendations to minimize another such accident. The report was issued by the US Department of State Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

The Overdose/Homicide Epidemic, Valena E. Beety

Georgia State University Law Review

This Article explores the lack of regulation of coroners, concerns within the forensic science community on the reliability of coroner determinations, and ultimately, how elected laypeople serving as coroners may influence the rise in drug-induced homicide prosecutions in the midst of the opioid epidemic.

This Article proposes that the manner of death determination contributes to overdoses being differently prosecuted; that coroners in rural counties are more likely to determine the manner of death for an illicit substance overdose is homicide; and that coroners are provided with insufficient training on interacting with the criminal justice system, particularly on overdose deaths. Death …

Dying To Be Fresh And Clean? Toxicants In Personal Care Products, The Impact On Cancer Risk, And Epigenetic Damage, Katherine Drabiak

Pace Environmental Law Review

The FDA does not conduct pre-market review of chemicals contained in cosmetics—which encompasses not only makeup but also numerous personal care products including shampoo, lotion, perfume, aftershave, and shaving cream. Every day, consumers use cosmetic products that contain a variety of synthetic ingredients, none of which the FDA has approved for safety but each of which are being ingested, absorbed, and inhaled into our bodies and accumulating in our tissue. Many of these products contain endocrine disrupting chemicals (“EDCs”), which emerging research links to an increased risk of cancer as well as immune and neurological dysfunction. This Article examines how …

Food Localization: Empowering Community Food Systemsthrough The Farm Bill, Brian Albert Fink, Alexandra Oakley Schluntz, Joshua Ulan Galperin

Journal of Food Law & Policy

More diverse and value-driven public engagement has transformed the American food system. This engagement has changed the behavior of industries, consumers, policymakers, and communities. At the heart of this change is the drive among countless individuals and organizations to promote a wider variety of food choices and shape the food system in harmony with their values. Despite the local and sovereign nature of this engagement, federal food and agricultural policies have contributed substantially to this transformation of the American food system. In isolation, many of these policies support discrete programs and individuals. In the aggregate, these policies strengthen different facets …

The End Of The Ramen Diet:Higher Education Students And Snap Benefits, Erika M. Dunyak

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Americans joke that college students have so little money that they subsist on 10 cent packs of ramen. Statistically, college students face much higher rates of food insecurity than the general population and the situation is particularly dire for students of color. Much has been written on this area in recent months and years and many commentators are seeking to denormalize poverty, hunger, and the “freshman 15” on campuses. This article will look to a solution for this hungry and often neglected population. In 2010, the Health, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) reauthorized the Federal School Lunch Program. HHFKA contained several …

Strengthening The National Organic Program With Stateorganic Programs, Kelly Damewood

Journal of Food Law & Policy

With an increasing amount of organic imports and steady growth in the organic sector, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Organic Program (NOP) needs additional enforcement resources to oversee a growing and evolving organic marketplace. California has the most efficient, robust organic enforcement in the U.S. because it has a state-administered organic enforcement program, the California State Organic Program (SOP). Based on the costs and benefits of the SOP, additional state organic programs are a viable means to increasing NOP enforcement resources when they are established in states where additional enforcement adds value to the state’s organic sector, organic …

The Snap Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Debate: Restrictingpurchases To Improve Health Outcomes Of Low-Incomeamericans, Nicole E. Negowetti

Journal of Food Law & Policy

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a highly effective government program that reduces poverty and improves food security for millions of our country’s most vulnerable families. Amid threats of budget cuts to this critical program in the 2018 Farm Bill, advocates representing various interests have banded together in support of this vital program. However, the issue of restricting the purchase of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) with SNAP benefits has divided anti-hunger and public health advocates. While public health and medical officials support the idea of restrictions on junk food, arguing that SNAP should improve health and nutrition, not contribute to …

Proactive Policies: Building The Farm Bill Of The Futurethrough New Collaborations And Perspectives, Jennifer Zwagerman

Journal of Food Law & Policy

The Farm Bill highlights both one of the great divides in our political process, as well as one of the most beneficial partnerships in politics. Historically, partnerships between rural and urban have been key to successful passage of the Farm Bill. However, calls to divide nutrition support and agricultural support programs continue, and there are increasingly diverse viewpoints regarding agricultural programs. To build the Farm Bill of the future, one that is comprehensive and addresses the needs of not just producers, but ultimately everyone impacted by this Bill, there needs to be a broader coalition of partnerships and voices involved …

Insuring A Future For Small Farms, Mary Beth Miller, D. Lee Miller

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Congress created Whole Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) in the 2014 Farm Bill to provide small, diversified, and organic operations with an insurance product tailored to their unique needs. The program stands out from other federal crop insurance programs with its blend of features that, inter alia, incentivize risk management through crop/animal diversification, increase premium subsidies for beginning producers, allow organic price elections, and recognize on-farm processing expenses. For the farmers who use it, WFRP provides more than peace of mind in the face of unpredictable weather and prices. It provides a revenue guarantee that opens up critical financing channels otherwise …

A Farm Bill To Help Farmers Weather Climate Change, Peter H. Lehner, Nathan A. Rosenberg

Journal of Food Law & Policy

The Farm Bill has an enormous impact on climate change. Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture account for almost 10 percent of total U.S. emissions and up to a quarter of all emissions globally. The Farm Bill encourages the use of carbon-intensive agricultural practices and products responsible for these emissions, but nonetheless offers several opportunities to quickly expand carbon sequestration, making it a critical piece of climate legislation. This essay will examine the climate impact of the Farm Bill, focusing on the commodity, conservation, and crop insurance programs. It then proposes politically feasible changes to these programs aimed at minimizing agricultural …

Building Indian Country’S Future Through Food, Agriculture,Infrastructure, And Economic Development In The 2018 Farmbill, Janie Simms Hipp, Colby D. Duren, Erin Parker

Journal of Food Law & Policy

With the potential of approximately $1 trillion in spending over 10 years in rural America, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs authorized by the Farm Bill have the ability to build and support thriving economies in rural America. Nowhere is this potential greater, or needed, than in rural Tribal communities. This paper will examine why the unique circumstances of Tribal governments, individual Native American food producers, and Tribal citizens necessitate changes in several USDA programs to serve Indian Country. Further, it will review several policy changes in various titles of the next Farm Bill reauthorization that will help empower …

The Fate Of Industrial Hemp In The 2018 Farm Bill – Will Our Collective Ambivalence Finally Be Resolved?, Marne Coit

Journal of Food Law & Policy

We are at a crossroads in the regulation of industrial hemp, and the 2018 Farm Bill is the time to decide which path we will choose. Congress has an opportunity to clear the path for farmers in the US to participate in this burgeoning market. With an estimated 25,000 uses, industrial hemp is one of those rare crops that has both food and agricultural uses. There is undoubtedly a market for hemp products. The Hemp Industries Association (HIA) estimates that US retail sales of hemp-based products was $688 million in 2016 – up from $573 million in 2015. Under the …

Cooperation Or Compromise? Understanding The Farm Billas Omnibus Legislation, Margaret Sova Mccabe

Journal of Food Law & Policy

The Farm Bill (the Bill) is the principal driver of U.S. food law and policy. Its substance spans the food system including commodities, conservation, trade, nutrition, credit, rural development, forestry, and energy. These substantive titles command much scholarly analysis yet there is comparatively little review of the law-making process that yields the Bill. Given increased focus on Congress’s ability to use its legislative powers effectively, this essay questions whether the Bill’s traditional treatment as omnibus legislation leads to beneficial coherence or too much compromise in food system policy. Interestingly, disparate stakeholders prioritize maintaining the Bill as omnibus legislation. Some scholars …

School Of Law Faculty And Professional Staff, Journal Editors

Journal of Food Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Editoral Board, Journal Editors

Journal of Food Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Contents, Journal Editors

Journal of Food Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Journal Of Food Law & Policy - Spring 2018, Journal Editors

Journal of Food Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

The Gm Food Debate: An Evaluation Of The National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard And Recommendations For The United States Based On Food Justice, Courtnee Grego

Seattle University Law Review

This Note aims to identify the food justice issues caused by the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (NBFDS) and make recommendations for the United States to minimize these concerns. The NBFDS requires the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to draft regulations establishing a mandatory disclosure standard for GM food and ultimately, will require a disclosure on the package of any GM food sold in the United States. Part I of the Note provides an overview of the genetically modified (GM) food debate. Part II reviews the NBFDS. Part III explains the food justice implications of GM food production. Part …