Law Commons^™

Laws On Locally Grown Food And Constitutional Limits On State And Local Government: Suggestions For Policymakers And Advocates, Brannon P. Denning, Samantha Graff, Heather Wooten

Brannon P. Denning

Locally grown food laws that require, or provide incentives for, purchasing food grown within a defined geographic boundary are vulnerable to challenge under the U.S. Constitution’s restrictions on local and state laws that discriminate against goods and commerce from other states, known as the dormant Commerce Clause doctrine (DCCD). Policymakers and advocates for local food should understand the impact of these restrictions and should take advantage of an important exception to these restrictions when drafting policies to encourage purchase of locally grown food. In particular, they should (1) consider using the “market-participant exception” to the DCCD and tailor policies to …