Liz Turner is a law student in the HLS Food Law & Policy Clinic and a guest contributor to this blog. On February 28th of this year, the USDA Equity Commission released an Interim Report, recommending steps the USDA should take to remedy existing disparities in its policies and programs and reconfigure the agency culture and systems that have perpetuated those…
Valerie Marshall is a law student at Duke University School of Law and guest contributor on this blog. One of FBLE’s recommendations for the 2023 Farm Bill is to reform commodity programs to direct subsidies towards farmers in genuine need of support. Farm commodity programs support farmers who produce certain crops by subsidizing guaranteed income levels in the face of…
Vrushab Gowda is a law student in the Harvard Law School Food Law & Policy Clinic and guest contributor on this blog. In a matter of months, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has thrust telehealth into the national limelight. It has proven indispensable in delivering virtual care to patients across the country, particularly in low-resource settings across rural America. In…
Ava Cilia is a law student in the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic and guest contributor on this blog. Last week, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill. The Plan includes historic provisions to address generations of systemic racism and discrimination towards “socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers” (SDFRs) by…
Merve Ciplak is a law student at Harvard Law School and former clinical student of the Food Law & Policy Clinic, where she worked on the report linked below. She is guest contributor on this blog. The COVID-19 pandemic has posed challenges in all facets of society. Members of our communities are having a hard time affording, accessing, and purchasing…
Libby Dimenstein is a law student enrolled in the Harvard Law School Food Law & Policy Clinic and guest contributor on this blog. After three long days, it finally happened: the major news networks called the 2020 presidential election for Joe Biden. Although farmers expressed strong support for Trump in months leading up to the election, perhaps because they feared…
Brianna Johnson-King is a law student enrolled in the Harvard Law School Food Law & Policy Clinic and guest contributor on this blog. COVID-19 has disrupted food supply chains, impacting farmers looking for butchers, meat processing facilities shutting down, and consumers concerned with availability and prices of meat at the grocery store. This disruption has led to potentially questionable conduct…
Stephanie Kelemen is a law student enrolled in the Harvard Law School Food Law & Policy Clinic and guest contributor on this blog. Buried deep in the 2018 Farm Bill, under the Conservation title, Congress established a peculiar program with $75m of mandatory funding: the Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program. Prior to encountering this Section, I had never…
Clara Geffroy is a law student at NYU School of Law and guest contributor on this blog. Congress recently passed a continuing resolution (CR) extending about $1.4 trillion in government funding until December 11, 2020. This comes after a period of conflicting political interests regarding a full replenishment of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), which provides funding to the United…
Mariana Munera is a law student at NYU School of Law and guest contributor on this blog. The USDA Farmers to Families Program is now entering its fourth round of funding with an additional $500 Million in funding. The program originally started as a way to bridge the gap between farmers, who lost business from restaurants, hotels, and other sources…