Law Professors Going Back to School

Both this academic year and last year in the LL.M. Program in Agricultural & Food Law, we have had the honor of hosting visiting scholars, law professors from other schools that attended the LL.M. Program as degree candidates.

Last year, Professor Tae Huan Keum came to study with us for his sabbatical from the Seoul National University in Korea. While in the Program, he researched and wrote an article on the regulation of U.S. beef and the risk of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE or "Made Cow" disease), a major issue in U.S. trade negotiations with South Korea. I  recently received an email from him that referenced his "wonderful experience in Fayetteville" where he was able to  "meet the issues of the American agriculture, smart students, enthusiastic professors, and the Razorback Football team. . . From the introduction to American agriculture to all the classes including Food, Farming, Sustainability, I was given new insights and was made to consider solutions to the problems of agriculture."

This year, we are proud to host Professor Martha Dragich, James S. Rollins Professor of Law at University of Missouri – Columbia School of Law.  Her interest in food law and our food system led her to study with us, and she has provided a significant contribution to our studies so far this year.  Her impressive publication record and her thoughtful approach to scholarship has led many of our young scholars to seek out her advice. And, the food she has prepared for the class has been amazing.  Indeed, we met the "Slow Food Challenge" at Martha's house this fall!  Martha is also a talented photographer, and she has allowed us to use her photos of produce at the Fayetteville Farmers Market on our brochures.

This year's class also includes Volha Samasuk, Senior Lecturer, Belarusian State University Law Department, Minsk, Belarus. Volha was interested in our program because of her work with international food safety and quality standards through the Belarus Food Safety Improvement Project of the International Finance Corporation in The World Bank Group.  She has also been a fantastic contributor -  sharing the world of Belaraus with us, and most recently, the secrets of Eastern European potato pancakes at the end of the semester party!

We are fortunate to have these professors with us. We hope that their example encourages others to take a year, or even just semester off to "return to school" and study with us.  We can all learn from each other!

Izeman: Wanted: Food Lawyers!

I was delighted to see Mark Izeman’s Blog, Switchboard post an article this week titled, Wanted: Food Lawyers!  Izeman writes that his "advice to law students and new lawyers is to consider how you can apply your skills to the fast growing local, sustainable food movement that seeks to fix our broken national food system."  He says we need "new laws and policies to strengthen their local food systems." And, he lists three additional initiatives that will require lawyers to implement.

• The development of "sustainability standards," that will help retailers and consumers assess their food choices accurately with an eye toward sustainability; 

• Establishing food equity through policies that will correct distribution barriers and other causes of food deserts, helping everyone to have access to healthier food.

• Crafting new laws and policies that address scalability issues, supporting and designing local food systems that can go a step beyond small scale local food efforts to help create a stronger local food system.

I commend Mr. Izeman for recognizing the important and positive effect that lawyers can have in shaping policy to meet the needs of communities.

At the University of Arkansas School of Law, we believe that our LL.M. Program in Agricultural & Food Law helps to serve these needs. We work hard to give our LL.M. candidates the tools necessary to meet these and other challenges, along with a sense of positive purpose and a desire to help their community, whether rural or urban.  As the only LL.M. Program in the U.S. specializing in agricultural or food law, we serve a unique role. And, by emphasizing "food, farming and sustainability" as our guiding motto, we offer a long term look at our food system from "farm to fork," for this generation and the next.

I would add three more initiatives to Mr. Izeman's list.  These relate to the connection between food law and agricultural law -  

• Understanding the complexities of agriculture and agricultural law in a way that can inform positive policy making; 

• Fostering positive communication and understanding between rural and urban interests, between farm and consumer interests, and by appreciating the differences and finding common ground.

• Evaluating agricultural policy in terms of environmental sustainability in the face of climate change.

We have many challenges ahead of us. Well educated food and agricultural law attorneys can help us face these challenges.