The Delta Directions Consortium (DDC) is an interdisciplinary network of individuals, academic institutions, non-profit organizations, and foundations that work together to create positive social change in the multistate Mississippi Delta Region. The Food Law and Policy Clinic (FLPC) has been a key member of DDC since its inception. Our goals include improving public health and promoting socioeconomic development. We partner across the academic/community divide and across disciplines to bring resources, research, policy, and potential solutions to communities throughout the Mississippi Delta; provide educational opportunities for students to do engaged scholarship and translational work and for regional, national, and global leaders to learn about challenges and opportunities to support the region; and disseminate, replicate, and expand our methods, findings, and successes, both within the Delta and to partners in similar rural regions.
Our Approach
As a member of Delta Directions, FLPC offers expertise and guidance on food system and agricultural policy affecting Delta communities. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, FLPC and DDC jointly published a series of issue briefs on ways Mississippi and community-based organizations could support folks in the Delta facing pandemic-related challenges: Feeding Mississippi Children During School Closure; Resources for Small and Mid-Size Farms in Mississippi; and, Delivering Food to Vulnerable Individuals in Mississippi. FLPC also presented relevant guidance and policy opportunities at the virtual Hunger Summit and follow-up Food is Medicine Summit, each DDC-hosted series of workshops and presentations that provided a venue for Delta-based community organizations and partners to share information, support, and learnings during the pandemic. FLPC also supervises the Mississippi Delta Project, an HLS student-practice organization through which volunteer law students work on projects with community partners in the Mississippi Delta.
