Professor Schneider Presents at Food Law & Policy Summit at Harvard Law School

Professor Susan Schneider, Director of the LL.M. Program in Agricultural & Food Law at the University of Arkansas School of Law joined the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic for the Food Law Student Leadership Summit earlier this month as a seminar presenter.

Read her blog post about the summit, originally posted at www.agfoodllm.com on Sunday, October 11, 2015.

The women behind the successful Harvard Summit, Left to right, Emily Broad Leib, Emma Clippinger, Christina Rice, Ona Balkus

Last weekend, it was my pleasure to participate in the Food Law Student Leadership Summit at Harvard Law School. This amazing event was organized by Emily Broad Leib and her team at the Harvard Food Law & Policy Clinic. Note that this team includes our very own LL.M. candidate and soon-to-be-alumna, Christina Rice. Christina serves as a Clinical Fellow in the Harvard Food Law & Policy Clinic, and it was great to see her in her new role.

The Leadership Summit was organized to bring together law students who are interested in food law & policy issues, to help them advance their interests within their law schools and to create a national network of leadership. From the Summit website:

The Food Law Student Leadership Summit is the first conference to convene law students from around the country who share a passion for food law and policy. Participants will hear from national experts about key food law and policy issues related to the environment, health, food safety, and food waste; develop strategies to start or expand student food law organizations; build a national network of food law and policy colleagues; and begin to develop coordinated strategies for addressing some of society’s most pressing food law and policy concerns.

Dean Martha Minow addresses the Summit, with Peter Barton Hutt and Emily Broad Leib listening to her remarks

The Summit exceeded even its most optimistic projections. Over 100 law students from 50 different law schools were accepted from a wide pool of applicants.  Presenters included some of the most notable professors and practitioners in food law & policy today. The event was kicked off with an impassioned speech from Harvard Law School Dean Margaret Minow who advocated that “food is everything” and that it works to integrate all of of the elements of the law school curriculum into a meaningful and critical study. The Summit was generously funded by the Charles M. Haar Food and Health Law and Policy Fund.

The weekend event was structured with educational presentations and student problem-solving exercises. I delivered two presentations on Saturday. The first was on the Use of Pharmaceuticals in the Livestock Industry and it was based on my recent article published in the Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum. The second was Keeping the Farmer in Food Policy, and it was co-taught with Professor Neil Hamilton.  It is always a pleasure to see and to work with our condensed course professor and colleague from Drake University School of Law.  In addition, I worked with the students in evaluating their problem-solving simulations, working with Christina in the classroom.

Professor Susan Schneider speaking on Pharmaceutical Use in the Livestock Industry

I was very proud to have several of our LL.M. students selected for attendance in the Summit.  Nicole Cook, Dave Nezzie, and Kelvin Stroud were at the Summit and represented us well.

It was an honor to participate in this event and to present to these students –  the future of food law. I do hope that we will see some of the in the next few years with us in the LL.M. Program!

Visit the blog for the LL.M. Program in Agricultural & Food Law at the University of Arkansas School of Law.