Resnick Program for Food Law and Policy Newsletter

Resnick Program Announces Food Law and Policy Clinic

The Resnick Program is excited to announce the launch of its Food Law and Policy Clinic. The Clinic will provide opportunities for UCLA law students to examine the role of lawyers in the food movement, particularly at the intersection of food policy and educational institutions.

 

Since arriving at UCLA in August, new Clinical Director Allison Korn has been exploring projects with partner organizations, such as Food Forward and attendees of the Farm Tank Summit. These collaborations will yield opportunities for students to gain direct experience developing and implementing impactful policy advocacy strategies that:

 

- Ensure equitable distribution of healthy, local food through institutional procurement measures;

- Resolve food insecurity across school campuses; and

- Improve school food and nutrition through food sector innovations and mission-driven start-ups.

 

For decades, UCLA Law School has been a national leader in clinical teaching. The new Food Law and Policy Clinic not only continues that tradition, it will also leverage the Resnick Program’s thought leadership and Los Angeles’s vibrant food landscape to establish an unparalleled experiential program.
 

Record Enrollment in Introduction to Food Law and Policy

The Resnick Program considers law student interest at UCLA to be paramount to its success, and one barometer of student interest is enrollment in the Program’s class offerings.

 

The foundational class is called Introduction to Food Law and Policy. Taught by Michael Roberts, the class covers topics such as food safety, labeling, advertising, nutrition, security, sustainability, equity and justice, and local and international food regulation. Class enrollment has more than doubled since the inception of the Program three years ago, with a record 43 students in this fall's class.

 

One component of the class is writing a major paper on a food law topic, and there is impressive diversity in this year's student topics such as the regulation of kosher meat, home delivery of food, food waste, lab-grown meat, and cannabis products. Professor Roberts reports that the “students have been very engaged in discussions that affect their lives daily.”

A Very Resnick Summer

Over the summer the Resnick Program hosted two stellar summer fellows, Brian Fink and Mallory Neumann. Both Brian and Mallory have ranked at the top of their law school classes.

 

Brian Fink is a 3L at UCLA Law and president of the student Food Law Society. This summer he focused his research primarily on the intersection of corporate law and food law. Mallory Neumann joined us from Florida State University Law School, where she is a 2L. Mallory has a background in food science and human nutrition. Her research this summer focused especially on the Nutrition Title of the Farm Bill. 

 

In addition to their time in the office, Mallory and Brian organized trips to local food non-profits, attended Food Policy Council meetings, and even traveled to the Bay Area to volunteer at a food system conference. We were thrilled to reunite with both Brian and Mallory at the National Student Food Law Summit at Drake Law School in Des Moines, Iowa. Both Mallory and Brian were selected to attend the Summit from a large pool of competitive candidates nationwide. We had a fantastic summer and are excited to see great things from them going forward.

New Staff Bio: Tiana Carriedo, Policy and Special Programs Fellow

Tiana Carriedo joined the Resnick Program this August as a Policy and Special Programs Fellow. She received her J.D. from UCLA Law in May 2016. Tiana also has a BA in history from UCLA and MSc in international relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

 

During law school, Tiana worked at the Natural Resources Defense Council, Citibank, and the Resnick Program. Her interests include innovation in food, early stage food companies, animal agriculture and welfare, local and state food policy, and Latin America.