International Food Law and Governance

UCLA School of Law is home to the Resnick Center for Food Law and Policy, a leading institution in this rapidly evolving field. The Center’s work underscores that food law and policy operates across borders and that understanding the global food system requires attention to international law and governance. International food law helps reveal the underlying structures of this global system, understood as the interconnected activities and actors involved in producing, aggregating, processing, distributing, consuming, and disposing of food. Since food law and policy were first taught in the United States in 2004, the field has continued to mature and move beyond its early stages. In this evolution, it has become clear that the full scope of food law—both as an academic discipline and as a legal practice—must engage international food law in conceptual and practical terms. This international food law seminar examines a central tension in the global food system: whether the dominant trade-oriented food regime, grounded in free trade and market dependency, will endure or whether alternative models rooted in food security, human rights, and food sovereignty will gain traction. Against this backdrop, we will explore a range of legal and policy issues, including global governance strategies, the protection of food cultures, the role of international organizations, and the use of international legal instruments. The seminar will address governance frameworks related to food trade, food safety, nutrition, labeling and certification, environment and climate change, technology and science, animal welfare, food security, and human rights. The only prerequisite for this class is an interest in the global food system. The seminar will emphasize active, discussion-based learning, with students critically assessing the legal and policy tools used to govern the global food system. It will also provide structured guidance on research design, paper writing, and project development. For the final paper or project, students will explore a specific international food law and policy issue in depth. A list of suggested topics, drawn from the Resnick Center’s current work, will be provided, and students may also propose their own topics in consultation with the instructor.