3rd Annual UCLA-Harvard Food Law and Policy Conference
Food Marketing to Children: The Current Reality and What Can Be Done
October 21, 2016 | UCLA School of Law

Conference Agenda
See also: Conference videos
The Resnick Program for Food Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law and The Food Law Lab at Harvard Law School hosted the 3rd Annual UCLA‐Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Conference, which addressed the issue of food marketing to children.
Event Description
American youth are heavily exposed to food marketing and most youth oriented marketing is for products with a poor nutritional profile. This marketing is capable of influencing children’s diets and arguably shaping their food preferences for years to come.
Some argue that, given the extent and nature of unhealthy food and beverage marketing in the United States and the increasing prevalence of youth diabetes as well as high obesity rates, more – much more – should be done to limit child and adolescent exposure to promotion of unhealthy foods and beverages. At the same time, any call for government action raises questions about both First Amendment and legislative limitations.
More Information:
Program
8:00 a.m.
SIGN-IN AND BREAKFAST
9:00 a.m.
WELCOME AND OPENING REMARKS
- Kelly Brownell, Dean of the Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University
9:35 – 10:55 a.m.
PANEL 1: THE SCIENCE
Panelists will discuss current science on the effects of marketing on youth, both from a public health and from a cognitive perspective.
MODERATOR:
- Emilie Aguirre, Academic Fellow, Resnick Program for Food Law and Policy, UCLA School of Law
PANELISTS:
- Lori Dorfman, Director, Berkeley Media Studies Group, University of California
- Jason Halford, Head of Department Psychological Sciences, University of Liverpool
- Marlene Schwartz, Director, Rudd Center for Obesity & Food Policy, University of Connecticut
10:55 - 11:20 a.m.
BREAK
11:25 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.
PANEL 2: THE LAW
Panelists will discuss the constitutional and regulatory frameworks that govern marketing to children, exploring both the opportunities and constraints for legal responses to unhealthy food marketing.
MODERATOR:
- Jennifer Pomeranz, Clinical Assistant Professor, College of Global Public Health, New York University
PANELISTS:
- Jacob Gersen, Professor of Law, Founder and Director of the Food Law Lab, Harvard Law School
- Stephen Sugarman, Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley School of Law
- Eugene Volokh, Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law
12:45 – 2:15 p.m.
LUNCH
Lunch will be provided
LUNCH PRESENTATION: RETIRED SENATOR TOM HARKIN
2:20 - 3:50 p.m.
PANEL 3: POLICY AND STRATEGY
Panelists will discuss how government, business, and the non-governmental sector have responded, or tried to respond, to concerns about marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages for kids and how political factors influence their actions.
MODERATOR:
Kim Kessler, Assistant Commissioner for the Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention and Tobacco Control, NYC Department of Health
PANELISTS:
- Sabrina Adler, Senior Staff Attorney, Change Lab Solutions
- Mike Jacobson, President, Center for Science in the Public Interest
- Jennifer Pomeranz, Clinical Assistant Professor, College of Global Public Health, New York University
- Rick Shackelford, Co-chair of Food, Beverage & AgTech Group, Greenberg Traurig
3:55 - 4:10 p.m.
WRAP UP AND RECEPTION ANNOUNCEMENT
- Michael Roberts, Executive Director, Resnick Program for Food Law and Policy, UCLA School of Law
4:15 - 6:15 p.m.
NETWORKING RECEPTION