Food, Farming, and Sustainability

Readings in Agricultural Law

Agricultural law is the study of the unique network of laws that apply to the production, marketing, and sale of agricultural products—the food we eat, the natural fibers we wear, and the bio-fuels that run our vehicles. Traditionally, agriculture has been favored with exemptions, exceptions, and special rules that reflect the uniqueness and the political power of the industry. In recent years, the study of agricultural law has expanded beyond its traditional scope to include the full scope of our food system - literally from farm to fork. Popular interest in agriculture has increased as consumers seek to know more about their food and where it comes from.

 

This book provides an issues-based study of these complex topics. It is divided into units designed to introduce some of the critical legal issues facing the industry and consumers today including: federal farm programs, the structure of farms and industrialized agriculture, environmental concerns, migrant labor issues, farm animal welfare, agricultural commercial law, and other topics. 

 

From Professor Schneider: "Food, Farming, & Sustainability is my effort to link the study of agricultural law to today's current issues. Few things are as important as our food system, and agriculture is where it all begins."

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About this website:

 

Notes from Professor Schneider

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I created this website to supplement Food, Farming, & Sustainability, to provide additional resources for those who use it, and to assist in my own use in teaching and scholarship. In doing so, I am not trying to provide a comprehensive clearinghouse of agricultural law materials. That's far too big a task. Rather, my goal is to provide a repository for some of the foundational resources that I find most helpful in my teaching and research. These resources include:

 

• Congressional Research Service reports, providing helpful information to introduce and summarize complex agricultural topics; 

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• GAO Reports, providing critical analysis and often criticism of government activities;

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• Agency reports, especially USDA ERS reports, providing key research and analysis from an agency perspective. 

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In addition, I attempt to provide links to the websites that I have found to be most helpful in updating and expanding my coverage of the topics covered in the book. 

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It is my hope that these resources will be helpful. 

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Susan  Schneider is the William H. Enfield Professor of Law and serves as the Director of the LL.M. Program in Agricultural & Food Law at the University of Arkansas School of Law.

 

Professor Schneider grew up on a family farm in Minnesota that she and her sister now own. She graduated with a B.A. in Political Science from the College of St. Catherine (Phi Beta Kappa, Pi Gamma Mu) in St. Paul, Minnesota. Professor Schneider earned her J.D., cum laude, from the University of Minnesota School of Law and her LL.M. in Agricultural Law from the University of Arkansas School of Law.

 

Professor Schneider teaches a wide range of agricultural and food law subjects and has published numerous articles in the field, including works on food law and policy, farm finance, agricultural bankruptcy, ground-water contamination, farm program payments, and women in agriculture. In addition to her traditional publications, she is a regular contributor to the Agricultural Law blog on the Jurisdynamics Network and has created a blog for the LL.M. Program, agfoodllm that highlights current program activities and alumni news. She tweets personally @aglawllm.

 

Professor Schneider’s past private practice experience includes work with firms in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Washington, D.C. and advocacy work with Farmers Legal Action Group, Inc.

For more than thirty years Carolina Academic Press has published both law books and successful titles in other areas as diverse as anthropology, history, sociology, criminal justice, education, politics, and sport risk management. The press may be best known for publishing Richard C. Wydick’s Plain English for Lawyers, a helpful reference now in its fifth edition and touted by The New York Times as “. . . probably the most popular legal text today. . . .” Its current law list includes around 600 unique and engaging titles by academics or practitioners who are experts in their fields. 

 

Food, Farming, and Sustainability: Readings in Agricultural Law was first published in 2010 and a significantly updated new edition was published in August 2016. Supplemental resources and updates are available from this website at Resources. 

 

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