S. Food Systems and US Environmental Law

We eat food every day. The food system, from agricultural production to processing and distribution to consumption and waste, shapes our environment, climate, and public health. This course uses our daily foods to demonstrate the environmental impact of modern agriculture and the U.S. laws that attempt to address it. Most environmental laws were first enacted in the 1970?s. The predominant model of farm and ranch at that time led Congress to largely exempt agriculture. Since then, agriculture has grown increasingly concentrated and industrial. While it is highly productive, it is also a major source of environmental and health harm. Agriculture is the main driver of habitat loss; monoculture row crops dependent on fertilizers and pesticides pollute waters; almost all meat is produced in industrial-scale facilities that generate vast amounts of waste yet often lack effective treatment systems; over-grazing causes erosion and water pollution; the food system as a whole contributes a third of total greenhouse gas emissions. This seminar studies the U.S. environmental and farm laws that directly and indirectly seek to reduce these harms. We explore their strengths and weaknesses and alternative approaches to environmental and public health protections. We start and end with climate change and address other impacts and statutes between.