agriculture definition

This commentary is offered by guest blogger, Nicole Civita, an attorney candidate in the LL.M. Program in Agricultural & Food Law at the University of Arkansas School of Law.  Nicole's bio appears at the conclusion of the post. Just as the local and slow food movements picked up speed, the American economy slowed to a crawl. The downturn forced all kinds of people to rediscover thrift and identify alternative income streams. The new focus on traditional food-ways provided many folks with a way to feed their families, their bank accounts and their creativity.  As Americans got the hang of growing food in their backyards and learned ways to use and preserve their bounty, many began to process and market the excess.  Droves of green-thumbed gardeners, happy home-bakers, kitschy canners, and off-beat fermenters began selling their wares at farmers' markets, to independent restaurants, and via online outlets like Fooducopia .   While many of these part-time ...

This commentary is offered by guest blogger, James Haley, an attorney candidate in the LL.M. Program in Agricultural & Food Law at the University of Arkansas School of Law.  James' bio appears at the conclusion of the post. Negligence, strict liability, trespass, and nuisance are the common legal theories that are used by injured parties to recover for damages from pesticide drift.  These are the same legal theories that an organic producer would use to recover for damages caused by the drift of genetically modified organisms (GMO) onto their property.  Which of these theories would apply and the burden of proof a plaintiff would be required to meet varies greatly among the different states and is not discussed here.  What would be common to all theories is that the plaintiff would have to prove damages, which specifically for organic producers would be losing their USDA organic certification or not being able to sell their products as organic.  However, cu...

The Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic recently announced the release of Good Laws, Good Food: Putting State Food Policy to Work for Our Communities .  This is the second "toolkit" prepared by the clinic; each has been designed to assist communities in improving their food and agriculture systems.  The first, Good Laws Good Food: Putting Local Food Policy for Work for Our Communities   focused on local initiatives, with the new effort focused at the state level. The primary authors of the toolkit are  Emily Broad Leib , Director of the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic, and Alli Condra , Clinical Fellow in the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic in partnership with Mark Winne , noted community food activist, writer, trainer and the principal of Mark Winne Associates. Winne is recognized for his longstanding work with food policy councils and other community food projects. From the press release announcing the new toolkit: The laws and policies that...