Food and Environmental Law Intersect

To mark the 16th anniversary of its symposium, the Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy Law Program combined forces with organizers of Lewis & Clark’s Food Law Forum to host a joint event—21st Century Food Law: What’s on Our Plates?

April 7–8, 2017

To mark the 16th anniversary of its symposium, the Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy Law Program combined forces with organizers of Lewis & Clark’s Food Law Forum to host a joint event—21st Century Food Law: What’s on Our Plates? U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer BA ’70, JD ’76 gave the keynote address, speaking on environmental issues related to the U.S. Farm Bill.

The April 7 program included panels on food production and labeling, impacts on the environment and animals, food and health policies, and related ethical issues. An enthusiastic group of close to 100 academics from around the country, faculty, students, alumni, and members of the public engaged in lively discussions throughout the day.

Top row, from left: Janice Weis (associate dean and director of the Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy Law Program), Lev Blumen... Top row, from left: Janice Weis (associate dean and director of the Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy Law Program), Lev Blumenstein JD ’17 (2016–17 editor in chief of Environmental Law), William Enoch ’18 (2017–18 editor in chief of Environmental Law), Lawrence Pittman ’18 (Student Bar Association president), and Lucy Brehm (assistant director of the Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy Law Program). Bottom row: U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer BA ’70, JD ’76 and Dean Jennifer Johnson.

 

Attendees were invited on a field trip April 8 that highlighted Portland’s vibrant food scene. The tour started in Slabtown at New Seasons Market, which follows a sustainable business model that features local producers and fishers. The group next visited Ecotrust’s latest project, The Redd on Salmon Street, a two-block development designed to support local food enterprises and help grow a robust regional food economy across the Pacific Northwest. Attendees met up with Franklin Jones, CEO and president of B-Line, one of the development’s tenants. As Jones walked the group through a variety of storage spaces reserved for local producers, he explained that B-Line specializes in sustainable delivery—via custom-built bicycles—to restaurants and other businesses in the urban core. The field trip ended on the east side of the Willamette with lunch at Mississippi Avenue food carts.

Papers authored by the event’s presenters were published in the summer edition of the Lewis & Clark journal Environmental Law.

Attendees ended their field trip with lunch from Mississippi Avenue food carts. Attendees ended their field trip with lunch from Mississippi Avenue food carts.