Centers Of Excellence

Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy

The Resnick Center performs cutting-edge legal research and scholarship in food law and policy to improve health and quality of life for humans and the planet.

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Podcast Feature

This month, Repast welcomes Catherine Sweetser, Deputy Director of the Promise Institute for Human Rights and the Director of the Human Rights Litigation Clinic at UCLA Law. Here, Professor Sweetser discusses her work against slavery and human trafficking in the global food supply chain, particularly in the context of chocolate production.

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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.

Who We Are

Publications by Type

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.

  • Curriculum

    Course Offerings: 2022-2023

    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.

  • UCLA Graduate Food Studies Certificate Program
    2022 graduates of the program with Michael Roberts (far right).
    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

  • 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.

  • 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.

    Fall 2022 Newsletter

  • The Bruin Promise

    The Bruin Promise is a bridge to alumni education at UCLA.

News
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Dec 05, 2023

From the Ground Up: The Resnick Center Marks 10 Years in Food Law Leadership

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Mar 27, 2023

Diana Winters talks to the Guardian about the regulation of food additives

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