Reminder - Upcoming Panel Discussion at the AALS

The Section on Agricultural Law will have a panel discussion on the following topic at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the AALS:Energy, Food, and the Environment: Agriculture's Future

The panelists will discuss the challenges facing agriculture as an energy source. For years, we have considered the environmental impacts of agricultural production, the relative lack of regulatory controls, and policy justifications for treating farming and farmers differently. In so doing, the political goodwill that farmers enjoy with the urban electorate and the primary function of agriculture—food production—have been paramount. As energy agriculture takes root, we must reconsider the historical justifications for farm policy, integrate energy policy, and further examine the need for environmental controls to reign in the harms associated with intensive production agriculture.

J.B. Ruhl of Florida State University College of Law will discuss the evolution and current state of environmental controls placed on agricultural production. Mr. Ruhl's paper places primary emphasis on the need for recognizing the role and value of ecosystem services as we implement environmental controls in agriculture. He uses Florida's transferable-development-rights legislation as an example.

Christopher Kelley will discuss one of the paramount challenges facing agriculture's future--water. From a global perspective, Mr. Kelley will discuss agriculture's consumption of water resources and the need for increased regulation in many countries.

Finally, Neil Hamilton of Drake University Law School will discuss the food policy implications of the biofuels boom.

Each speaker will bring a unique approach to addressing these aspects of agriculture's future.

The meeting is Saturday, January 5, at the Hilton. We will meet from 3:30 to 5:15 PM in Nassau B, on the second floor. The section will have its business meeting after the program concludes.

Hope to see you in New York.

Hunting and Local Cuisine

My colleague Anthony raises an intriguing issue. The issue of hunting and meat consumption has spawned some interesting perspectives.

Consider "The Oil We Eat: Following the Food Chain Back to Iraq" by Richard Manning and published in Harpers Magazine a few years back. Manning presents a thought provoking analysis of our oil-based food supply, criticizing everything from our nitrogen-hungry corn production, to our heavily processed and packaged foods, to the distance our food travels. He concludes with the following description of shooting an elk:

I used a rifle to opt out of an insane system. I killed, but then so did you when you bought that package of burger, even when you bought that package of tofu burger. I killed, then the rest of those elk went on, as did the grasses, the birds, the trees, the coyotes, mountain lions, and bugs, the fundamental productivity of an intact natural system, all of it went on.

This article follows one of the themes of Manning's book, Against the Grain, How Agriculture Has Hijacked Civilization.

Similarly, Michael Pollan shoots a wild pig as he explores "The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals."

Surely hunting provides a connection to one's food and its source in a very real way.

To complicate things further, however, hunting may provide an immediate food source, yet it may well not be local. We seem to find a way to link transportation to everything we eat. Hunting may involve as long a distance as those mid-winter citrus fruits sold in Minnesota. Check out World Class Outdoors for a hint at the possibilities! And, to raise one more interesting thing about it all - how do you suppose that we came to treasure large antlers instead of the meat?

Interesting Take on Local Food

Hunting.

(Un) Happy Cow Campaign Continues

The California Milk Advisory Board (CMBA) developed its "happy cows" campaign quite a few years ago. Their slogan: "Great cheese comes from happy cows. Happy cows come from California." Accompanying this cheery message were pictures of cows looking, well - very happy.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) sued the CMBA under California's Unfair Competition Law (UCL) alleging that the advertisements were false and deceptive. The courts never reached the merits of the allegations, however, as the case was dismissed on the grounds that the CMAB was not a "person" that could be sued under the competition law. PETA has maintained a website titled "Unhappy Cows" that works to expose the realities of dairy production in California.

As I was raised on a traditional midwest family dairy farm, I have always had an interest in cows. And, milk and cheese have always been a significant part of my diet. I am the kind of consumer who can tell the difference in the taste of different brands of milk and who thinks that there are few things better than a well crafted cheese. When I moved from Minnesota to Arkansas, my options declined, and in particular, I missed the good cheese readily available from local processors in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

With this background in mind, consider my reaction when one recent evening on my way home, I stopped to pick up some groceries (probably milk, but I can't recall for sure). I was confronted by a grocery store employee that offered me some "cheese from happy cows in California." I considered her offer long enough to discover that it was from our local Arkansas dairy manufacturer, and that she was bragging about the fact that its cheese came from milk from California cows. I was astounded. There was just so much that was wrong.

1. Shipping a perishable commodity across the country when it could just as well be produced locally at lower cost and with less environmental impact.
2. Raising cows and producing milk for mass production in a location that is far from ideal - too hot and too dry and with food that has to be either heavily irrigated or shipped in.
3. Claiming that the cows are somehow happier in California's industrialized dairies.
4. Turning all of the negatives into a marketing campaign to make consumers think that the dairy product will somehow be better.
   

Since my grocery store encounter, I notice that Arkansas has been flooded with television ads for the "happy cows." Are American consumers in the midwest really going to buy cheese because it comes from California?

I hope not. My advice - Support your local dairy - buy local.