The Fate of Industrial Hemp in the 2018 Farm Bill – Will Our Collective Ambivalence Finally Be Resolved?

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 2014 Farm Bill, Congress seemingly paved the way for industrial hemp to once again be grown in the US, as it granted authority for states to create industrial hemp pilot programs. However, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) interpretation of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) of 1970 still precludes farmers from fully participating in these programs. DEA claims that it has authority to regulate all species of Cannabis sativa under the CSA, and does not distinguish between marijuana and industrial hemp. In the 2018 Farm Bill, Congress has the opportunity to clarify that the definition of marijuana does not include industrial hemp, and by doing so simultaneously clarify (and limit) the scope of DEA’s authority. In order for farmers, processors and retailers to move forward, Congress must take this action, and therefore restrict DEA’s jurisdiction to marijuana. This is the only path forward for a thriving industrial hemp industry in the US

Jumping on the Next Bandwagon: An Overview of the Policy and Legal Aspects of the Local Food Movement

This article is an exploration of this new and growing local food movement. It is not a cohesive movement, nor is it one that is organized by a particular group. Rather, it is a grassroots movement comprised of people who are interested, for various reasons, in obtaining food grown or produced where they live or in producing this food themselves. The purpose of this article is to explore what the local food movement is, why consumers are interested in basing their food purchasing choices on where their food originates, current and future regulation of local food, and where this movement may be headed in the future

Organic Agriculture Under the Trump Administration

This essay will examine the implications of the policies of the upcoming Trump administration on the integrity of the National Organic Program (NOP), the regulations promulgated under the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA). Advocates fears of weakening organic standards are likely to become reality under the Trump administration. Support for organic may be dependent on high returns for large agricultural producers. However, there is a negative correlation between larger agri-businesses entering the organic market and the erosion of the organic standards. The Trump administration will likely continue down the path of supporting larger agribusinesses—to the detriment of not only smaller, more sustainable farms and businesses, but possibly to the organic regulations themselves