Through its publications, courses, clinic and events, the Resnick Center affords students valuable scholarship, research and networking opportunities.Students can also gain unique policy advocacy training within the food justice movement through UCLA Law’s clinical education curriculum.
The Resnick Center’s engagement in food systems thinking allows it to focus on the development of food governance strategies to promote accountability, transparency and safety in the national and global food chain.
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To forward its mission, the Resnick Center works with UCLA Law students and faculty and the broader UCLA and UC communities, and engages with national and international scholars, experts and policymakers. The Center also maintains a robust slate of outside advisors, including its Outside Advisory Board, and its Research Affiliates, who are recent law school graduates working to better the food system who will consult and assist on various Resnick Center research projects.
Food Research & Scholarship
Celebrating a decade of the Resnick Center for Food Law and Policy.
An interactive issue brief series designed to democratize sustainable, equitable, and inclusive systems-thinking approaches to food governance.
A blog that highlights center publications and activities and provides a forum for food law scholars to discuss ideas and share work, managed by the Resnick Center and the Food Law Lab at Harvard University.
A podcast during which we interview thought leaders in the field of food law and policy to discuss past achievements, current developments, and future challenges.
A guide to help law students and graduates understand the varied directions of a public interest food law career.
Resources on the intersection of Covid-19 and food law and policy for scholars, researchers, and officials.
This guide is intended to facilitate the delivery of pro bono legal services to help those in America who are food insecure.
Who We Are
- Directors & Fellows
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Outside Advisory Board
David T. Biderman
Partner, Perkins CoieKevin Boylan
Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Powerplant VenturesEthan Brown
Founder & CEO, Beyond MeatPaula Daniels
Co-founder and Chair at The Center for Good Food Purchasing and Commissioner, California State Water CommissionMichael Dimock
President, Roots of ChangeMarsha Echols
Professor, Howard University School of Law, and Director, The World Food LawEvan Graham-Arango
Owner, founder and farmer at Ojai Roots Farm in Ojai, CAJeremy Halpern
Partner, Nutter McClennen & Fish LLPTom Harkin
Former U.S. Senator, IowaSascha Henry
Partner, Sheppard MullinJoshua T. Hofheimer
Partner, Sidley Austin LLPKim Kessler
Assistant Commissioner for the Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention and Tobacco Control, New York City Department of HealthKristen R. Klesh
Partner, Loeb & Loeb LLPCorby Kummer
Senior Editor at The AtlanticRobert Lustig
M.D. Professor of Pediatrics Endocrinology Division, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of MedicineMichael Reese
Reese, LLPStewart A. Resnick
Chairman and President, The Wonderful Company, LLCRick Shackleford
Greenberg Traurig Food & Beverage Group Co-ChairThomas Tobin
Associate, Perkins CoieBernhard van Lengerich
PhD, Former CSO and VP Technology Strategy, General Mills Inc.; Board Member, Beyond Meat, Inc.Gillian Wade
Partner, Milstein Jackson Fairchild & Wade LLPNury H. Yoo
Partner, Faegre Drinker -
Research Affiliates
Alexa Libro
Alexa Libro is an associate attorney in the Technology group at Goodwin Procter LLP, where she advises emerging companies and venture capital investors throughout the corporate life cycle. She earned her J.D. from UCLA School of Law in 2022, with a specialization in Environmental Law, and completed the UCLA Food Studies Graduate Certificate Program. She received her B.S. in neuroscience with a minor in biomedical research from UCLA in 2017. During law school, she was a research assistant at the Resnick Center for Food Law and Policy, co-executive chair of the Food Law Society, and co-chief managing editor of the Journal for Environmental Law & Policy.Candace Yamanishi
Candace is an associate attorney in the Business & Tort Litigation Group at Jones Day where she works on a variety of complex litigation matters. She earned her J.D. from UCLA School of Law in 2022. During law school she was a research assistant for the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy, participated in UCLA Law's Food Law and Policy Clinic, and was a member of UCLA Law's environmental journal.Laura Yraceburu
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Affiliated Faculty
Taimie L. Bryant
Professor of LawCara Horowitz
Andrew Sabin Family Foundation Executive Director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment
Director, Frank G. Wells Environmental Law ClinicJill R. Horwitz
David Sanders Professorship in Law and Medicine
Professor of Public Affairs (by courtesy)
Founding Faculty Director, Lowell Milken Center on Philanthropy and Nonprofits
Vice Dean for Faculty and Intellectual Life (2019-2021)Timothy Malloy
Professor of Law
Faculty Director, UCLA Sustainable Technology and Policy Program
Frank G. Wells Endowed Chair in Environmental LawAlex Wang
Professor of Law
Walter and Shirley Wang Chair in U.S.-China Relations and Communications
Faculty Co-Director, Emmett Institute on Climate Change & the EnvironmentDavid Biderman
Lecturer in LawJasmine Wetherell
Lecturer in LawThomas Tobin
Lecturer in LawStephanie L Mcclelland
Reference Librarian -
International Affiliate Scholars
Silvia Rolandi
Silvia Rolandi is a legal scholar and practitioner specializing in international agri-food law, employing a strong interdisciplinary approach that combines law, sustainability, and digital innovation with tradition. Born in the Tuscan countryside, she holds a degree in International Private Law from the University of Pisa Law School and a postgraduate qualification in International Trade Law from the International Training Centre of the UN-ILO in Turin. She earned her Ph.D. in Politics, Human Rights, and Sustainability from the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, conducting part of her research as a visiting scholar at the Resnick Center for Food Law and Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles with Professor Michael T Roberts. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor at the University of Pisa, working within the Pisa Agricultural Economics Team – Food and Rural Studies for Sustainability, and she also lectures at Wageningen University & Research with the Law Group (The Netherlands). -
Distinguished Affiliate Scholar
Hilal Elver
Hilal Elver is a Research Professor and co-director of the Project on Global Climate Change, Human Security, and Democracy housed at the Orfalea Center at the UCSB. She is currently serving as the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food with the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights. She has a law degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Ankara Faculty of Law, and SJD (Doctoral degree of juridical Science) degree from UCLA School of Law. She started her teaching career in 1985 at the University of Ankara Faculty of Law, and during this period she was also appointed by the Turkish government as the founding legal advisor of the Ministry of Environment, and the General Director of Women’s Status in the Office of the Prime Minister. In 1994, she was appointed by the United Nations Environment Program to the UNEP Chair in Environmental Diplomacy at the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies in Malta. In 1993 she was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Michigan Law School in Arbor, and 1996-1998 she was a visiting fellow at the Center of International Studies at Princeton University. Since 1998 she has been teaching comparative law, international human rights law, and international environmental law at various universities in the U.S and Europe. Currently, she is one of the members of the Turkish negotiation team at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Publications by Type
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Books
Research Handbook on International Food Law (Edward Elgar 2023)
Edited by Michael T. Roberts
International and national regulatory strategies to counter food fraud (FAO 2022)
Michael T. Roberts, M.T. Viinikainen, T. Bullon
Food Law: Cases and Materials (Wolters Kluwer 2019)
Jacob E. Gersen, Margot J. Pollans, Michael T. Roberts
Food Law in the United States (Cambridge University Press 2016)
Michael T. Roberts -
Whitepapers
Author: Kyle Winterboer, MPP
Author: Michael Roberts
Author: Michael T. Roberts and Whitney Turk
Food Equity, Social Justice, and the Role of Law Schools: A Call to Action
Author: Kim Kessler and Emily Chen
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Journal Articles
The relationship between fruit drink front-of-package claims, fruit imagery, and ingredient disclosures and consumer perceptions, intentions, and behavior: A systematic review
Diana R. H. Winters and Michael T. Roberts
Regulating Farming: Balancing Food Safety and Environmental Protection in a Cooperative Governance Regime
Margot Pollans
Review of Outbreak: Foodborne Illness and the Struggle for Food Safety
Diana R. H. Winters
Retooling American Foodralism
Laurie J. Beyranevand and Diana Winters
Food Law at the Outset of the Trump Administration
Diana R. H. Winters
Genetically Modified Food Labeling in China: In Pursuit of a Rational Path
Michael T. Roberts
The Importance of the Right to Food for Achieving Global Health
Emilie K. Aguirre
The Beginnings of the Journal of Food Law & Policy
Michael T. Roberts
Sickeningly Sweet: Analysis and Solutions for Adverse Dietary Consequences of European Agricultural Law
Emilie K. Aguirre
Liberalising Agricultural Policy for Sugar in Europe Risks Damaging Public Health
Emilie K. Aguirre -
Book Chapters
Forward - Food Law: A Practical Guide (American Bar Association 2022)
Michael Roberts
Edited by Tommy Tobin
Forward - International Food Law and Policy (Springer 2016)
Michael T. Roberts
Setting the Table for Urban Agriculture - Urban Agriculture: Policy, Law, Strategy, and Implementation (American Bar Association 2015)
Michael T. Roberts -
News Articles
Scandal could lead to lawsuits against sugary beverage industry
Michael T. Roberts & Emilie Aguirre
Congressional Outlook 2016: Food
Emilie K. Aguirre - Food Policy Trackers
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Summaries and Reports
Executive Summary: Roundtable on Market Innovation and Plant Based Foods
Executive Summary: Roundtable on Social Entrepreneurship in the Food Sector
Resnick Program Student Compendium: Topics in Food Law and Policy - Spring 2016
Damian A. Martin, Justine Coleman
California Aquaculture Law Symposium: Summary Report
Austin Bryniarski
Resnick Program Conference Reflection Papers
Michael Roberts, Kim Kessler, Sean Hecht, Diana Winters, Samuel Wiseman, Denis Stearns
UCLA-Harvard Food Law and Policy Conference Panel 3 Compendium – Fall 2014
UCLA-Harvard Food Law and Policy Conference Panel 2 Compendium – Fall 2014
UCLA-Harvard Food Law and Policy Conference Panel 1 Compendium – Fall 2014
Resnick Program Student Compendium: Topics in Food Law and Policy - Fall 2014
Ben Leonard, David Winston - Guides
For Students
The Center's educational component features high-caliber classes, conferences, workshops, and experiential learning. Students enjoy working with Center faculty and fellows on various research projects and publications. New student opportunities to immerse in food law include experiential learning through the Food Law and Policy Clinic and interdisciplinary exchange through the new UCLA Graduate Food Studies Certificate Program.
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Curriculum
Course Offerings
Atlantic Foodways: Culture, Science, Governance, taught by Michael T. Roberts and Dr. Robin Derby, Associate Professor of History. Summer abroad program to Italy.
Food Studies, taught by Michael T. Roberts, which was designed for the Graduate Food Studies Program. The emphasis is on holistic, systems thinking approaches in dealing with food systems and working in interdisciplinary projects.
Law 693: Food Litigation: Consumer Protection, Regulation, and Class Actions, taught by David Biderman and Tommy Tobin, both of whom serve on the Center’s Outside Advisory Board.
Law 508: Food Law and Policy Seminar, taught by Executive Director Michael T. Roberts and Deputy Director Diana Winters, focuses on how food law as a response to the modern food system has adapted and developed into a distinctive area of law.
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UCLA Graduate Food Studies Certificate Program
2022 graduates of the program with Michael Roberts (far right). With food security and environmental sustainability becoming increasing global concerns, there is an urgency to educate the next generation of leaders with strong interdisciplinary foundations. The Food Studies Graduate Certificate Program offers UCLA PhD, MA and professional school students the opportunity to investigate this growing field. The program will prepare students from diverse disciplines to address complex topics that span food cultures and histories, nutrition and public health, food policy and food justice, urban planning, and agrifood systems and the environment. For more information about the certificate, visit the UCLA Food Studies Certificate Program website.
Resources
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On Food Law Blog
On Food Law highlights center publications and activities and provides a forum for food law scholars to discuss ideas and share work. The blog is managed by the Resnick Center and the Food Law Lab at Harvard University.
Read the blog.
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Resnick Newsletter
Keep up to date with the Resnick Center's news, events, partnerships and publications.
Please reach out to us at resnickcenter@law.ucla.edu for more information, to join our mailing list, to get involved, or to donate to our work.
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The Bruin Promise
The Bruin Promise is a bridge to alumni education at UCLA.