agriculture definition

The Journal of Environmental and Sustainability Law (JESL) was established at the University of Missouri Law School in 1993 as the Missouri Environmental Law & Policy Review (MELPR). In the spring of 2012, MELPR became JESL. JESL focuses on national environmental issues, with an emphasis on law and policy relevant to a sustainable world. JESL publishes two editions a year, one in the spring and one in the fall. JESL editors invite article submissions, and are very receptive to work focusing on food law and policy issues. Submission via ExpressO or via email to Articles Editor Allison Tungate (alt5z2@mail.missouri.edu) is preferred. Relatively quick decision, editing, and publication timeframes are available. In Addition, JESL�s annual symposium for 2015 will take as its theme �The Sustainable Table.� The tentative date is Friday, April 3, 2015. Authors interested in presenting and publishing their work as part of the symposium are encouraged to contact Symposium Editor Ted Lynch (t...

The Journal of Food Law & Policy is seeking article submissions.  For ten years, the Journal has been a leading voice in the food law and policy movement, publishing legal scholarship on a wide variety of food law issues. While some articles have reflected the traditional food and drug law approach and presented excellent regulatory analysis, more typically, the articles have presented a look beyond this. They have discussed the most relevant current food policy issues, often with a systemic perspective that transcends the legal academy's traditional approach. The Journal strives for excellent scholarship with "real world" significance -  a mission appropriate for the one area of law that touches everyone in the world -  food. The Journal's leadership role and its tenth anniversary were noted by authors Baylen Linnekin ( Keep Food Legal ) and Emily Broad Lieb (Harvard's  Food Law and Policy Clinic ) in their recent article, Food Law & Policy: The Fertil...

One of my summer projects is an update of my book, Food, Farming & Sustainability: Readings in Agricultural Law .  Here is an excerpt that I am working on that ties together some interesting resources that I have been meaning to blog about. Million-Dollar Farms:  The �2-4 Percent� of Agriculture Everyone has heard of the economic category of the �1 percent� of Americans � the political rallying point against excessive income disparity in the United States that was most visibly emphasized by Occupy Wall Street and its followers.  A less well known category is the small percentage of U.S. agriculture that owns increasing amounts of land, exercises significant market power, and is responsible for producing the majority of our commercial food stocks.  While some might not like it, we are far more dependent on these mega-farms that most people realize. USDA data from 2007 indicates that 37 percent of very large family farms and 13 percent of non-family farms have annu...

From the LL.M. Program in Agricultural & Food Law : I am pleased to announce that we have received additional funding for several new graduate assistantships for the LL.M. Program in Agricultural & Food Law at the University of Arkansas School of Law for the 2014-15 academic year.  These graduate assistantships provide for a full tuition waiver for the 9 month program plus a stipend of $3,000 per semester.  GAs agree to assist with research and projects part-time (usually about 10 hours per week during the semester), gaining valuable experience beyond the classroom. For over thirty years, we have been educating attorneys in the specialized laws that apply to agriculture, and for the last ten years, we have integrated the study of food law into our curriculum.  We provide a unique opportunity to consider all aspects of our food system -  from traditional farming and ranching to urban agriculture, from agribusiness to farmers markets, from farm subsidies to fo...

KJRH Television of Tulsa, Oklahoma reports the following interesting news: The Quapaw Tribe is creating an agricultural program that will supply locally grown products for its casino restaurant. Tribe Chairman John Berrey says the new program will include four greenhouses, which will be used to cultivate vegetables and herbs for the Downstream Casino Resort's Red Oak Steakhouse . An additional 140 head of cattle will provide meat for the restaurant, and beehives will be used to make honey for salad dressings and sauces. Berrey says the program will create new jobs for tribal members and add to the economic diversity of the Quapaw Tribe.

For anyone interested in the development and evolution of agricultural law,  a new thought-provoking article published by Neil Hamilton is a great read.  It's Harvesting the Law: Personal Reflections on Thirty Years of Change in Agricultural Legislation . Neil has been a law professor focused on agricultural law issues for over thirty years, and a list of the titles of his publications over those years looks like the table of contents of a treatise on emerging agricultural law subjects.  Neil started his legal career working on behalf of farmers during the farm financial crisis of the 1980s and was one of the early leaders in the rebirth of agricultural law as a recognized discipline. His rich historical perspective comes through in an analysis that is both candid and critical. The article focuses on legislation, a subject that Neil has taught for years at Drake University School of Law, and it examines the development and evolution of agricultural-related legislation in ...

I am looking forward to blogging about the robotic milking technology that Jim Chen @chenx064 tweeted about this week, and I will get to that first thing tomorrow. Today, I'd like to do a brief announcement / recruiting pitch. We have some exciting opportunities for recent law graduates and experienced attorneys who are interested in the subjects we write about in this blog -  agriculture, food, rurality, sustainability, natural resources, and the environment. I am sure that Agricultural Law readers will agree that there are fascinating, important, and incredibly complex issues in this area. The LL.M. Program in Agricultural & Food Law is pleased to announce an  expanded curriculum that includes new courses on emerging issues such as urban agriculture, food justice, and local/regional foods. Changes in the 2014 Farm Bill, including the farm programs, crop insurance, enhanced support for organic agriculture, and the nutrition programs are incorporated throughout our curr...