Drake Law School will welcome law students from around the country to the 2016 Food Law Student Leadership Summit Sept. 30-Oct. 2.
Co-hosted by the Drake Agricultural Law Center, the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic, and the Food Law Student Network Leadership Committee, the summit brings together law students who share a passion for food law and policy. Eighty students from 46 different law schools nationwide were selected to attend, including eight Drake Law students.
“Drake is excited to be co-hosting this important opportunity for law students to learn more about food and agricultural law,” said Neil Hamilton, professor of law and director of the Drake Agricultural Law Center. “We are especially pleased to able to give visiting students the chance to experience the type and scale of farming and food production that we have here in Iowa.”
The first Food Law Student Leadership Summit was hosted by the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic in October 2015. The students participated in small group seminars with leading academics and experts; developed creative solutions to some of today’s most pressing policy challenges; and laid the foundation for the Food Law Student Network, a national network of food law and policy colleagues.
Emily Broad Leib, director of the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic, said the summit was originally meant to be a one-time event.
“We received such incredible feedback from the students and speakers that it became clear the summit fills a real void in the food law space, allowing students to network in a meaningful way that can lead to real change,” Broad Leib said. “We are thrilled that Drake Law School has offered to host this event and work with us to bring students together again.”
The 2016 summit will build on the success of last year’s event and feature many of the same elements to help students deepen their understanding of key food law and policy issues.
Participants will attend seminars and work in small groups to develop and present policy solutions as well as gain resources for promoting food law and policy at their law schools. The students will also have the opportunity to tour local farms, processors, and farmers markets in the Des Moines area.
The seminars will be led by faculty members from Harvard, UCLA, Pace, Nebraska, Arkansas, Yale, New Hampshire, and George Mason, in addition to lawyers and policy experts from a wide range of non-profit organizations. Ricardo Salvador, senior scientist and director of the Food and Environment Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, will present the keynote lecture.
The 2016 Food Law Leadership Summit is made possible through the generous support of the Lillian Goldman Charitable Trust, the Charles M. Haar Food and Health Law Policy Fund, and GRACE Communications Foundation.
Find more information on the 2016 Food Law Student Leadership Summit website.
About the Drake Agricultural Law Center
Founded in 1983, the Drake Agricultural Law Center is internationally recognized for providing opportunities to study how the legal system shapes our food system and influences the ability of the agricultural sector to produce, market, and utilize agricultural products.
Learn more about the Drake Agricultural Law Center.