Brooke Christy is a 3L at University of Pittsburgh School of Law and a guest contributor to this blog. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Equity Commission is tasked with providing recommendations for reducing barriers to access the Department’s programs and services. In the September public meeting, the Equity Commission turned its attention to county committees. Congress established the county…
Brooke Christy is a 3L at University of Pittsburgh School of Law and a guest contributor to this blog. Heirs’ property (sometimes referred to as heir property) is a term that refers to land that has been informally passed to two or more descendants without a will or deed to prove ownership. When this occurs over several generations, it becomes…
Samantha Capaldo is a law student at Drake University Law School. She is a guest contributor to this blog. On July 28, the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research held the first committee hearing on challenges facing the hemp industry and how the 2023 Farm Bill can address those concerns through the Hemp Production Program. Chairperson Plaskett opened…
Nicole Miller was a spring student with the HLS Food Law & Policy Clinic. She is a guest contributor on this blog. In January 2022, the United States Forest Service, an agency of the U.S Department of Agriculture (“USDA”), released a wildfire crisis strategy report aimed at confronting the growing wildfire crisis. The report highlighted that the “size, duration and destructivity”…
Alex Sadzewicz is a student at the University of Maryland Francis K. Carey School of Law. Nathan McMullen is a student at the University of Maryland College Park. They are both guest contributors to this blog. The Environment Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) are the working lands programs from the United States Department of Agriculture…
Over last weekend, the Senate pulled an all-nighter to pass the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA or the Act), narrowly getting it across the line with a 51-50 vote. If passed by the House (which may happen today), it will enact the largest U.S. investment in the fight against climate change, with some commentators saying it will “change the world” and…
Samantha Fairbanks is a student at the University of Maryland Francis K. Carey School of Law. Mariah Campbell is a student at the University of Maryland College Park. They are both guest contributors to this blog. Increased levels of greenhouse gasses (GHG), namely carbon dioxide, in the atmosphere is projected to have devastating impacts on the agricultural industry. This may…
Asha McElroy is a Master of Public Health student at The University of Michigan and summer intern with the HLS Food Law & Policy Clinic. She is a guest contributor on the blog. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) provides funding to land-grant universities teaching the next generation of leaders in agriculture,…
Brooke Christy is a rising 3L at University of Pittsburgh School of Law and a guest contributor to this blog. When we recognize the contributions that colleges and universities have made in the agricultural sector, special thanks must be given to land-grant institutions. Land-grant institutions were created by Congress with the mission of democratizing agricultural education for the working class….
Gita Connolly is a law student at the University of Wisconsin Law School and a summer intern with the HLS Food Law & Policy Clinic. She is a guest contributor to this blog. Farmworkers endure more than a garden variety of challenges and exploitative practices while on the job: wage theft, occupational hazards, inadequate housing, and labor violations, to name a…