Legal Niches

Setting an ANSI Standard for Sustainable Agriculture

Posted on September 30, 2008
This press release came to me from Tom Redick, via the ABA's listserve for the Agricultural Management Committee. The broader project's page is available at this link.Apparently, USDA is not happy with the effort and has sought to end it. Leonardo's response can be found here.

Piggie Wonder and Proposition 2 - Animal Confinement

Posted on September 30, 2008
As reflected in previous posts, the treatment of animals in industrialized production draws a great deal of criticism. As many state animal cruelty statutes exempt farm animals from the protection afforded domestic pets, and as federal animal welfare laws also often exclude farm animals, new laws directed specifically at farm animals are gaining ground...

Russia's Land and People

Posted on September 28, 2008
Interesting slideshow here.

Humans, Animals, and Livestock Production

Posted on September 24, 2008
This started as a comment to Susan's earlier post on equine therapy, but the comments are long enough for a full post. The connection between humans and animals within production agriculture has some interesting consequences for how we view and regulate the industry...

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Milk

Posted on September 24, 2008
Even as the father of a newborn, I'm just not sure this idea will catch on.

Exploring Equine Therapy

Posted on September 21, 2008
While still feeling a little shy about publishing such a personal post as A Different View on a "law" blog, the article, by Ruben Rosario A man and his horse saving each other - and others came across my desk. It is a fascinating story about an equine therapy center in Minnesota...

A Different View

Posted on September 18, 2008
I begin with a welcome to Dean Sealing. As has been evident in many of our past posts, we have a wide variety of opinions and a diverse range of topics on Agricultural Law, and "the more the merrier."I offer some contrasting thoughts on the issue slaughtering horses for human consumption, an issue that is admittedly complex but that I find very troubling...

They Shoot Horses Don't They? (part two)

Posted on September 17, 2008
As promised, here is part two of my piece on hippophagy. As you may have figured out from the fact that yesterday's post was composed in Word, I am new to posting blogs. At the University of Louisville School of Law I am a full-time Dean of Students and so don't get as much time to write as I would like, but a number of my interests, particularly in the area of indigenous peoples, overlap the area of agricultural law...

They Eat Horses Don't They?

Posted on September 16, 2008
The following started out as a short rumination (not a pun, horses aren?t ruminants) and morphed into eight pages and forty-one footnotes, so I have cut it down into two footnote-free parts. The first part introduces the question of hippophagy from historical, culinary and ecological perspectives...

A Wake-Up Call, From Russia with Love

Posted on September 12, 2008
The New York Times recently reported that ?soaring global food prices (the price of wheat alone rose 77 percent last year) and a new reform allowing foreigners to own agricultural land . . . have created a land rush in rural Russia.? The article quotes Russia?s minister of agriculture, Aleksey Gordeyev, noting that he often speaks ?of food in terms of national security...

Food & Agriculture: The New Trend in Higher Education

Posted on August 31, 2008
As someone who has practiced, taught, and wrote about agricultural law for over twenty years, the current upswing in interest in studying issues of food and agriculture is gratifying. You can imagine my reaction when the Washington Post published Field Studies: In Exploring Culture, Politics and the Environment, Food Programs Hit the Academic Mainstream last week...

No, Chairman Mao, revolution is a dinner party

Posted on August 30, 2008
Máo Zéd?ng was wrong. Revolution is a dinner party:The term "foodie" is no longer reserved for an exclusive club of chefs and discriminating diners. Today, food has become a focus — and a cause — for a broad audience, from individuals such as ...

Moving on From Those Measles Photos - Publication Opportunity

Posted on August 28, 2008
Whether you find the irradiation of lettuce to be an indication of a troubled food system or the triumph of public necessity over individual ignorance, food law clearly presents some interesting issues. And, because it is an area where there are new legal issues and challenges, there are many topics worthy of inspired scholarship...

Fatal instinct

Posted on August 25, 2008
In responding to the FDA's decision to permit irradiation of fruits and vegetables, Susan Schneider says, "Sometimes, we should trust our instincts."With apologies to Susan, I believe that this treatment of "instinct" is fundamentally wrong. The whole point of law, at least in regulatory settings where government has a broader mandate than simply enforcing private agreements between consenting individuals, is to impose compulsory measures for the benefit of the public at large...

Irradiating your Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

Posted on August 22, 2008
Sometimes, we should trust our instincts.I should begin by saying that I am a huge fan of science, and I am astounded by the cool things that we have learned to do thanks to creative scientists who "think out of the box" and question our assumptions and challenge our instincts...

"Gasoline as a Side Dish" or "The Vegan Option"

Posted on August 13, 2008
Reducing meat consumption (especially American consumption) could significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing gasoline consumption, too, could significantly reduce emissions. Given the ever-increasing link between food and fuel, I think we should start applying some of the suggestions for better eating to improve (read: reduce) our gasoline consumption...

Ideas for Articles Requested

Posted on August 11, 2008
As another academic year begins, I am preparing to advise two separate groups of students regarding article topics. And, I could use your help.First, there is a new group of candidates joining our Journal of Food Law & Policy. These students will be looking suggestions for note and comment style articles...

Farm Blogs From Around the World

Posted on August 03, 2008
There is a new blog called Farm Blogs that is an effort to gather together links to the very best of global blogging about farms and farming. It includes a blog roll sorted by country along with a General Interest section where we are linked. Posts are made up of blog recommendations by other farm bloggers combined with farming stories from around the world...

More on Meat Eating

Posted on July 31, 2008
There is an interesting editorial in the New York Times that was coincidentally published with perfect timing for our recent posts on eating meat, eating the meat we know and animal welfare. A Farm Boy Reflects, by Nicholas D. Kristof is a personal and moving reflection that is well worth the read...

Rice-a-Roni: Who Could Have Known?

Posted on July 31, 2008
The origin of recipes can be a fascinating case study. In case you missed it, on this morning's National Public Radio broadcast of Morning Edition, there was a delightful story about the origin of one of the first boxed food products available to the hurried cook, Rice-a-Roni...

Thoughts on Bunny

Posted on July 29, 2008
Professor Chen raises some intriging issues in his post, Bunny: It's Whats for Dinner. First, there is the impact of knowing what, and sometimes, who you are eating. The second issue, not to be overlooked but which I shall save for a later comment, is the serious issue of animal welfare and humane slaughter...

Bunny: It's what's for dinner

Posted on July 24, 2008
Rabbit for dinner? The thought either delights or disgusts. From the Washington Post:Chefs love rabbit. Some diners, especially the 2.3 million Americans who keep rabbits as pets, don't. And therein lies a potential for growing controversy. "In Europe, you eat rabbit everywhere...

Annabelle

Posted on July 19, 2008
Within the expressive idiom of American folk music, is there a more compelling example of literary naturalism than Gillian Welch's 1996 ballad, Annabelle  (on Revival)?In previous blog posts, on Jurisdynamics and MoneyLaw, I've come close to answering the question...

Speculation and Manipulation, Redux

Posted on July 11, 2008
So the airlines have gotten together to Stop Oil Speculation (SOS). How do I know? Both Northwest Airlines and United Airlines sent me an e-mail with an open letter signed by twelve airlines. They must be serious about this. I have made my thoughts on speculation and manipulation known here and here, and the airlines? arguments are not changing my mind...

Ain?t No Reason Things Are This Way

Posted on July 06, 2008
The Sunday New York Times included an article, American Energy Policy, Asleep at the Spigot. The article outlines high oil prices and what was done (and not done) since the 1970s to reduce our oil consumption: ?Over the last 25 years, opportunities to head off the current crisis were ignored, missed or deliberately blocked, according to analysts, politicians and veterans of the oil and automobile industries...

New Mexico bans cockfighting

Posted on July 05, 2008
Excerpts from Adam B. Ellick, A Ban on Cockfighting, but the Tradition Lives On, N.Y. Times, July 6, 2008:Last year, New Mexico became the 49th state to make cockfighting illegal. . . . The state has devoted vast resources to ending the sport, but with only one misdemeanor conviction thus far, it continues unabated in hidden venues, cockfighters and law enforcement officials say...

Oh No! The Free Market Is Acting Like a Free Market!

Posted on June 26, 2008
Much has been written lately about how ?speculators? might be impacting crude oil markets and other commodities markets, such as corn. Some analysts even told Congress recently that gas prices could go as low as $2 a gallon if Congress acted to limit market speculation...

The case for banana sex

Posted on June 20, 2008
The commercial banana is a sterile mutant that hasn't had sex for decades. Visit Jurisdynamics to read the compelling case for banana sex.

Manipulating Market Manipulation

Posted on June 19, 2008
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) recently announced that it would be investigating agriculture futures markets, ?including the lack of convergence between the futures and cash prices, the impact of higher margin requirements, and the role of speculators and commodity index traders...

Tyson Sues USDA

Posted on June 16, 2008
In a new development in the ?raised without antibiotics? chicken saga, the Wall Street Journal reported today that Tyson Foods has filed suit against the USDA, claiming itself to be the ?victim of flawed regulatory procedures.?The background on this issues was explained in an earlier post, Twists and Turns: Tyson?s Raised Without Antibiotics Claim...

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