October, 2014

Greetings!

I'm pleased to present to you the October edition of CAFS News Bites. We have a lot of wonderful news to share. First, I'm happy to announce that Rebecca Valentine (VLS '13) has joined us as our program officer. Most recently, Rebecca worked in DC with the Center for Food Safety. Rebecca has hit the ground running, taking over this publication and facilitating many of our projects and partnerships.

I am thrilled to report that the American Bar Association recently acquiesced to our request for approval of our LLM in Food and Agriculture Law and our Master of Food and Agriculture Law and Policy, making our sustainable food and agricultural enviromental law program the most comprehensive in the nation.

We also continue to build important partnerships. In September, we were awarded $759,000 by the National Agriculture Library to develop two important legal resources to benefit small and beginning farmers and those who are food insecure. We announced the partnership with Senator Patrick Leahy who was instrumental in forging the partnership.

Finally, it is my great privilege to announce that we will host Dr. Vandana Shiva on November 2nd. Dr. Shiva will speak on climate change, GMOs, and the plight of Indian farmers.

Eat well, be well-

Laurie Ristino

Director

SEN. LEAHY ANNOUNCES $759,000 CAFS GRANT

U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) visited Vermont Law School Sept. 24th to announce $759,000 in USDA funding for a three-year partnership between CAFS and the National Agricultural Library (NAL). The USDA funding will support the dissemination of agricultural and food law research and the development of legal tools in two key sustainability areas: land tenure and gleaning. Read the full press release in the VLS Newsroom.

Left to Right: Student clinicians Alona Tate and Kara Shannon, CAFS Director Laurie Ristino, Sen. Patrick Leahy, Dean Marc Mihaly, CAFS Professors Jamie Renner and Laurie Beyranevand, and Chief Justice Paul Reiber

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT:

CAFS LAUNCHES FOOD AND AG CLINIC

The Food & Agriculture Clinic (FAC) launched this August with two significant projects on its plate: the Farmers' Market Legal Research and Extension (FMLRE) project,and Land Tenure Toolkit. FMLRE is a collaborative effort with NOFA-VT and the Farmers Market Coatlition, while the Land Tenure project seeks to promote the transfer and retention of farmlands and acquisition of affordable farmland for new farmers. These projects reflect nearly $1 million in grant funding. Visit the CAFS Food and Agriculture Clinic page for more information!

ACADEMIC SPOTLIGHT:

CAFS ADDS NEW DEGREES & DISTANCE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

On October 28, VLS will launch its first food and agricultural law distance learning course, entitled "Introduction to Food and Agricultural Environmental Law and Policy." This introductory capstone course provides a background in the major federal laws that impact food and agricultural production and distribution while considering how those areas of law intersect with larger concerns about environmental and health law and policy. It also considers how the burgeoning local foods movement provides alternatives to address these issues.

Earlier this month, the American Bar Association (ABA) acquiesced to a request for approval of two proposed degrees: an LLM in Food and Agricultural Law and a Master of Food and Agricultural Law and Policy. With the addition of these courses of study, VLS now has the most comprehensive food and agricultural environmental law program in the nation.

NEWS & EVENTS:

Credit: navdanya.org

VLS TO HOST VANDANA SHIVA

On November 3rd Vermont Law School will welcome Dr. Vandana Shiva, who will speak on climate change, GMOs, and the difficulties facing Indian farming communities. Dr. Shiva is the founder of the organization Navdanya, whose mission is to promote peace, justice, and sustainability by supporting community seed banks, biodiverse organic farming, and fair trade.

CAFS' ASSOCIATE AND CLINICAL DIRECTORS TO REPRESENT VLS IN UPCOMING CONFERENCES

October 24-25 CAFS Associate Director Professor Laurie Beyranevand will be attending the inaugural UCLA/Harvard Law School Food Faw and Policy Conference, entitled Transparency in the Global Food System: What Information and to What Ends? The conference brings together scholars, advocates, and industry to consider the issue of transparency in the food system and its implications for consumers.

CAFS Clinical Director Professor Jamie Renner will be attending the VT Farm-to-Plate Network Annual Gathering in Killington, VT October 23-24 as a member of the Network's Farmland Access Working Group. Professor Renner will also be attending McGill University's Conference on Global Food Security October 28-29.

CAFS PARTNERS WITH GODAN INITIATIVE

CAFS is now a partner in the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) initiative. GODAN and its partners strive to bring together public and private stakeholders to build support for open-access data policies and drive innovation in food and agricultural systems research. Visit GODAN online for more information.

CAFS SEEKS FOOD AND AGRICULTURE LLM FELLOWS

CAFS is currently seeking two highly qualified food and agriculture LLM Fellows to join the CAFS team in January 2015. The Fellows will work closely with the Center and its Clinic to provide cutting edge research, analysis, and work on CAFS projects which create legal solutions for the food movement. For information on qualifications, benefits, and the application process, please visit our Food and Ag LLM Fellowship page.