Forging Careers in Food Law and Policy: Challenges and Opportunities for Law Schools

Food Law and Policy (FL&P) is a quickly growing field of legal practice that offers many exciting career opportunities for law students. As national awareness of food and agricultural issues increases, particularly the way laws and policies influence our food system, more law students are demanding that their law schools offer courses, internships, and clinical experiences in this field. Law schools across the country have an opportunity to satisfy this student demand, while at the same time providing students with skills and knowledge that will equip them to engage with the many complex, dynamic, and important issues related to the practice of FL&P. This article seeks to explain to curious and interested legal educators the types of career paths a student might take in the field of FL&P and the ways law schools can provide students the necessary skills and education in order to prepare them for a career in FL&P

Food Sovereignty in the United States: Supporting Local and Regional Food Systems

Today, perhaps more than ever, an increasing portion of U.S. society is paying attention to and asking questions about our food and agricultural system. We are recognizing the immense consequences of the agricultural efficiencies we valued and wrote into our policies in the seventies-for example, growing corn fence row to fence row and the ease ofmicrowaved meals and prepackaged foods. 3 The increasingly global nature of our food system and its consequences are becoming more apparent. Food safety concerns-prompted by a growing number of foodborne illness outbreaks and the government\u27s response in the 2009 Food Safety Modernization Act-loom large and seem increasingly unpredictable