December, 2014

Seasons Greetings!

We hope you enjoy the December installment of our newsletter. With the holiday season upon us, we reflect back on a highly successful fall at the Center. We continued to grow our program with the Clinic and Distance Learning launches, both innovations in sustainable food and agricultural teaching. We hosted international activist Vandana Shiva, as well a Food and Drug Administration listening session on the Food Safety Modernization Act. We also began work on several national sustainable food projects and continued our partnership with the National Farm to School Network.

As you give this holiday season, we hope you consider a gift to the Center. With your support, we will continue to innovate solutions for a healthier food system while training the next generation of food and farm advocates.

Eat well, be well!

Laurie Ristino

CAFS Director

JANELLE ORSI NAMED 2015 DISTINGUISHED SUMMER SCHOLAR

janelleorsi.com

CAFS is pleased to announce that Janelle Orsi will be joining us as our Distinguished Summer Scholar for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems. A graduate of U.C. Berkeley's Boalt School of Law, Janelle's firm is based in Oakland, CA, where she specializes in helping individuals and organizations share resources and create sustainable communities. Her law and mediation practice works with social enterprises, non-profits, community gardens, cohousing communities, ecovillages, and others working on innovative change. Janelle is also the founder of the Sustainable Economics Law Center, whose mission is to cultivate a new legal landscape supporting community resilience and grassroots economic empowerment. In 2012 Janelle was named to The (En)Rich List, which notes individuals whose "contributions enrich paths to sustainable futures."

PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT:

CAFS CLINIC CELEBRATES FIRST SEMESTER

This month the Food & Agriculture Clinic finishes its first semester in action. To date, the FAC has commenced work on three national food system projects: collaborating with NOFA-VT and the national Farmers Market Coalition to build a farmers market legal toolkit for farmers market managers nation-wide; working with New Hampshire-based Land for Good and BCM Environmental & Land Law to build a farmland tenure legal toolkit for farmers, farm-seekers, landowners and advocates throughout New England; and partnering with the DC-based National Farm to School Network to develop a national guide of state farm to school legislation for legislators, state agencies, school administrators, and farm to school advocates across the country. The clinic looks forward to an equally successful second semester; with continued robust partnerships and projects and, for the clinic's incoming students, learning by doing.

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT:

JACK HORNICKLE, CLASS OF 2015

CAFS is pleased to debut the Student Spotlight section, which features a VLS student or graduate whose work in food and agriculture is exciting and inspiring! This month we proudly introduce Jack Hornickel, Class of 2015. This spring, Jack will be spending his final semester in law school as an intern at the Natural Resources Defense Council in New York City. He will be working with Margaret Brown and Mark Izeman in the New York Program, focusing on state-wide and urban issues of food and agriculture. NRDC has led the continuing effort to establish a wholesale market for local foods at the Hunts Point Terminal Market. The 113 acre distribution center, located in the South Bronx, currently has no space dedicated to local foods, despite the growing demand from restaurateurs and retailers

Courtesy of Jack Hornickle

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This will be Jack's third legal internship targeting the New York City foodshed. Over the summer, he worked with Foscolo & Handel, PLLC, a boutique law firm based out of Sag Harbor that represents small food entrepreneurs. He also worked on farm viability projects with GrowNYC, one of the largest networks of urban farmers markets in the country.

Jack realizes the importance of growing the NYC foodshed. While the NYC Department of Environmental Conservation stewards a vast watershed for the benefit of urbanites, overseeing upstate landholdings and maintaining aqueducts, no government agency does the same for food. That equally vital responsibility is left to the whims of the free market. As an attorney, Jack intends to continue building the the New York City foodshed, by representing food and farm businesses and advocating for their interests.

NEWS & EVENTS:

CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS: 2015 UVM FOOD SYSTEMS SUMMIT

CAFS is partnering with the University of Vermont in hosting their annual Food Systems Summit , June 16-17, 2015. The conference brings together scholars, practitioners, and food systems leaders to engage in dialogue on the pressing food systems issues facing our world. This year's theme is The Right To Food, and CAFS is excited to announce that Keynote speakers include Raj Patel. Anyone with scholarly or professional expertise in the area of agriculture and food systems is invited to submit a presentation proposal by January 15, 2015. Visit the 2015 Food Systems Summit site for details. Law-based submissions will also be considered for publication in the Vermont Law Review.

CAFS CO-SPONSORS FDA LISTENING SESSION ON VLS CAMPUS

On November 17th CAFS co-sponsored a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) listening session with the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets, in conjunction with the Northeast Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NEASDA). Held in the Chase Community Center on the VLS campus, the listening session offered farmers, food processors, students, and advocates an opportunity to provide comment on new supplemental rules proposed for the federal Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

CAFS WELCOMES LLM FELLOW CARRIE SCRUFARI

CAFS is excited to welcome Carrie Scrufari, our first LLM Fellow in Food and Agriculture. Originally from upstate New York, Carrie received her JD, Magna Cum Laude, from the University of Maryland School of Law in Baltimore, MD. She comes to CAFS from a clerkship with the New York State Court of Appeals in Albany, NY. Carrie understands that healthy food systems mean healthy, nourished communities. She has volunteered with her local co-op as a food and nutrition educator and at her community garden as a compost educator. CAFS looks forward to Carrie joining the team in January.

GRADUATE VIEWBOOK NOW AVAILABLE

Interested in earning an MA or LLM in food and agricultural law? CAFS has spearheaded the approval of two new graduate degrees at VLS, an MA in Food and Agricultural Law and Policy (MFLAP), and an LLM in Food and Agricultural Law. To learn more, visit the VLS Master's Degree page to download the new Graduate View Book.