Greetings!
 
Happy National Agriculture Day! Introduced in 1973 by the Agriculture Council of America, National Ag Day promotes public awareness of how our food is produced, and why agriculture is important in maintaining a stable economy. In that spirit, we proudly present the March edition of CAFS' Newsletter.
 

Eat well, be well!

Laurie Ristino

CAFS Director

 
  
CAFS NEWS:  
  
VERMONT LAW SCHOOL LEADS ENVIRONMENTAL LAW FIELD FOR 25 YEARS
CAFS is proud to be a part of the VLS environmental law program, which has been ranked among the top two environmental law programs in the nation by U.S News and World Reports for the 25th straight year. The Center's Food and Agriculture Clinic, JD Certificate in Food and Agriculture Law and Master's and LLM degrees in Food and Agriculture Law and Policy comprise the most comprehensive food and agricultural law program in the country.

CAFS DIRECTOR LAURIE RISTINO QUOTED IN VT DIGGER
CAFS Director Laurie Ristino was quoted in the VT Digger article " Vermont Brand Adds Value, but Rules for Claiming Connection are Complex" dated February 22, 2015. The article addresses the high value of the "Vermont" brand, which can lead food manufacturers to misrepresent their products' relationship with Vermont, such as falsely identifying the product as having been manufactured in the state or made using Vermont-grown ingredients.
L to R: Professor Samuel Wiseman, Florida State University; Andrea Freeman, University of Hawaii; Jamie Renner

CAFS CLINICAL DIRECTOR JAMIE RENNER PRESENTS IN SEATTLE
Earlier this month, Clinical Director Jamie Renner presented his paper "Sustainable Seafood 2.0: Retooling Industry's Approach," at Seattle University School of Law's Retooling Food Law Symposium; discussing ways advocates can partner with seafood companies to improve the environmental and ecological sustainability of seafood. Renner co-authored the paper with Meghan Jeans, VLS graduate and Director of Conservation at the New England Aquarium (NEAQ) and Tania Taranovski, NEAQ's  Director of Sustainable Seafood Programs.
 

 

CAFS DIRECTOR RISTINO APPEARS  ON HUFFPOST LIVE SEGMENT

On March 16, 2015, CAFS director Laurie Ristino appeared as a guest speaker on HuffPost Live's segment Do We Need More Food Transparency? The segment focused on how new technologies are leading to increased food safety by tracking each items' journey and source, and raised the question of whether big data is the answer to lack of transparency in the food and agriculture industry.  

 

ANIMAL LAW SOCIETY STUDENTS WIN NATIONAL COMPETITION

CAFS congratulates VLS students and Animal Law Society members Scott Lake '15 and Sophie Guilfoyle '15 on winning the National Animal Law Moot Court Competition earlier this month. Sophie received a perfect score in one of her rounds and was awarded Best Oralist. The competition was presented by the Lewis & Clark Law School Center for Animal Law Studies and hosted by Harvard Law School. Final round Appellate Moot Court judges included the Honorable Susan P. Graber, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. 
 
PROJECT SPOTLIGHT:     
 
STATE FARM TO SCHOOL LEGISLATIVE SURVEY
CAFS partnered with the National Farm to School Network (NFSN) to produce the 2014 update of the State Farm to School Legislative Survey: 2002-2014, released on March 5, 2015. Farm to school is the practice of sourcing local foods for schools, preschools and childcare centers while providing education opportunities in health, nutrition and agriculture through school curricula. The Survey summarizes all state farm to school bills proposed between 2002-2014, whether enacted, defeated or still pending. The Survey also provides legislative analysis and guidance on crafting state farm to school programs. The 2014 update includes case studies from Alaska, the District of Columbia, Oregon and Texas. Download the full report here.  
CAFS EVENTS:
 
CAFS SPONSORS GLOBAL FOOD, LOCAL SOLUTIONS CONFERENCE
The Global Food, Local Solutions Conference will be held March 27, 2015, from 8am-5:30pm on the VLS campus. The conference addresses challenges related to food safety, food security and food sovereignty in disenfranchised communities. CAFS is co-sponsoring the event with Alliance, Black Law Students Association, Native American Law Students Association, Food and Agriculture Law Society, and the Federalist Society. For registration information visit eventbite.com.

REGISTER NOW FOR 2015 FOOD SYSTEMS SUMMIT
Registration is now open for the 2015 UVM Food Systems Summit, co-sponsored by CAFS. Join us June 16-17, 2015, at the University of Vermont to discuss this year's theme--the Right to Food: Power, Policy and Politics in the 21st Century. Raj Patel, Claire Kremen and Smita Narula are this year's Keynote Speakers, and our diverse panelists will discuss topics including the role of urban gardening in South Africa, food security strategies of Nicaraguan coffee farmers, and whether the right to food implies a right to a healthy environment.

CAFS HOSTS VERMONT GLEANING COLLECTIVE
On March 6, 2015, CAFS hosted a meeting of the Vermont Gleaning Collective on the VLS Campus. The Collective is an initiative of Salvation Farms, a network of professionally organized, community-based gleaning organizations. Agricultural gleaning is the act of collecting food crops left over after harvest, and is the focus of one of CAFS' multi-year USDA funded projects.

CAFS TO PARTICIPATE IN VERMONT STUDY TOUR, SUMMER 2015
CAFS LLM Fellow Carrie Scrufari will be teaching Food System Advocacy: Leading the Nation in GE/GMO Labeling during the Vermont Study Tour, May 31, 2015, through June 20, 2015, as presented by the Vermont Higher Education Food Systems Consortium. VLS is a participating school in the Consortium, which consists of six of Vermont's higher education institutions offering food systems courses. The three-week study program can be taken for graduate and undergraduate credit. To apply, visit Vermont Food & Farm Education online.