Michael T. Roberts

Executive Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law and Policy,
Professor from Practice

  • B.S. University of Utah, 1986
  • J.D. University of Utah, 1989
  • LL.M. University of Arkansas, 2000

Michael T. Roberts is the founding Executive Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law. Roberts is a thought leader in a broad range of legal and policy issues from farm to fork in local, national, and global food supply systems. He taught the first food law and policy course in the United States in 2004 and served as the leading force in the development in 2005 of the first scholarly journal – Journal of Food Law and Policy – devoted exclusively to the field. Since his arrival to UCLA in 2013, Roberts has authored and edited major foundational publications on food law. He authored the first major treatise on food law, titled, Food Law in the United States (Cambridge University Press 2016). He is also co-editor of a case book, Food Law: Cases and Materials (Wolters Kluwer 2019). He is currently editing Research Handbook on International Food Law (Edward Elgar Publishing, forthcoming). He has also written several other chapters, articles, and papers on food law topics.

Roberts is also actively involved in the global development of food law and policy. He has lectured on food-law subjects at law schools, workshops, and conferences in a number of countries, including the United States, China, Korea, United Kingdom, Italy, Belgium, Canada, Spain, Romania, Turkey, and Russia. He is a Research Fellow for Renmin University School of Law's Center for Coordination and Innovation for Food Safety (Beijing). He is an Adjunct Professor of Law for East China University of Science and Technology (Shanghai), where he lectures annually on food law topics. Roberts recently led the Resnick Center into a partnership with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on a series of research and advisory initiatives to confront global food security, nutrition, safety, and quality.

Roberts is focusing much of his current research and work on the development of international food law and public-private regulatory approaches in the world food supply chain, with a particular emphasis on the regulation of food innovation and future technologies. He continues his long interest in consumer, public-health, social, and equity issues related to food and has engaged the center in a number of projects aligned with this interest. He is also very interested in the history of food law and is currently studying part-time for a DPhil in modern history at Oxford University where he is focused on the emerging role of international law and institutions in the governance and regulation of food starting in the 1930s.

Roberts serves on various boards related to food law and policy. He is member of the Board of Directors for the non-profit, Feed the Truth organization. He is also a founding board member and historian for the Academy for Food Law and Policy and on the advisory board for the World Food Law Institute. He is active in the Food and Drug Law Institute and serves on the Food Advertising and Labeling Committee.

Roberts entered the field of food law when, in 2000, he left his law practice and enrolled in the LL.M. program on agricultural law at the University of Arkansas School of Law, the only such program in the U.S. Since then, Roberts has engaged in a variety of professional capacities related to food law and policy. A few years after completing the LL.M. program, he was invited to join the University of Arkansas School of Law as a Research Professor of Law and as the Director of the National Agricultural Law Center. Roberts has broad experience in practicing food law, including being of counsel in Washington D.C. with Venable LLP, as a member of the firm's food and agricultural law practice group. He was also a visiting scholar and consultant to the FAO in Rome.

Roberts teaches two courses at UCLA Law: Introduction to Food Law and Policy (for second and third year law students) and Emerging Scholarship in International Food Law (a "modes" class for first year law students). He has also been instrumental in the organization of a food studies certificate graduate program at UCLA and was the co-instructor of the program's Introduction to Food Studies course.

Bibliography

  • Books
    • Research Handbook on International Food Law (edited by Michael Roberts). Edward Elgar Publishing ( 2023). Full Text Book Info.
    • International and national regulatory strategies to counter food fraud (with M.T., Viinikainen, T., Bullon). Food and Agriculture Organizations of the United Nations (2022). Book Info.
    • Food Law: Cases and Materials (with Jacob E. Gersen and Margot J. Pollans). Wolters Kluwer (2019). Book Info
    • Food Law in the United States. Cambridge University Press (2016). Book Info
  • Articles And Chapters
    • A "Food Systems Thinking” Roadmap for Policymakers and Retailers to Save the Eco-System by Saving the Endangered Honey Producer from the Devastating Consequences of Honey Fraud, Social Science Research Network (2019). SSRN | Full Text
    • US Food Law: Responding to Changing Social Conditions, in European and Global Food Law, (Wolters Kluwer, 2017).
    • The Pursuit of Food Authenticity: Recommended Legal and Policy Strategies to Eradicated Economically Motivated Adulteration (Food Fraud) (with Whitney Turk), Social Science Research Network (2016). SSRN | Full Text
    • 2016 China Food Law Update (with Ching-Fu Lin), 12 Journal of Food Law & Policy 238 (2016). Full Text
    • Genetically Modified Food Labeling in China: In Pursuit of a Rational Path (with Xiao Zhu and Kajie Wu), 71 Food and Drug Law Journal 30 (2016).
    • Foreword, in International Food Law & Policy, (edited by Gabriela Steier and Kiran Patel, Springer, 2016).
    • Setting the Table for Urban Agriculture (with Margot Pollans), in Urban Agriculture: Policy, Law, Strategy, and Implementation, (American Bar Association, 2015). Full Text
    • The Beginnings of the Journal of Food Law & Policy, 11 Journal of Food Law & Policy 1 (2015).
    • If Sugar Is Addictive...What Does It Mean for the Law? (with Ashley Gearhardt and Marice Ashe), 41 Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 46 (2013).
    • Comparison of EU and U.S. Law on Sustainable Food Processing (with Emilie H. Leibovitch), in Alternatives to Conventional Food Processing, (edited by Andrew Proctor, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2011).
    • A Perspective on Emerging Law: Consumer Trust and Social Responsibility in China’s Food Sector: the “Bleaching” Case Study, 66 Food and Drug Law Journal 405 (2011).
    • Cheaters Shouldn’t Prosper: The Need for FDA to Protect Public Health by Taking Action Against Global Economic Adulteration of Pomegranate Juice, 6 Journal of Food Law & Policy 189 (Fall 2010).
    • Technical Regulations and Trade: Current Issues, Trends and Long-Term Prospects and the Compatibility of Private Standards With Multilateral Trade Rules: Legal Issues at State, in The Evolving Structure of World Agricultural Trade: Implications for Trade Policy and Trade Agreements, (UN, FAO, 2009).
    • U.S. Wine Regulation: Responding to Pressures and Trends in a Global Food System, Rivista Di Diritto Agrario (“Agricultural Law Review”) (2008).
    • International Legal Issues Concerning Animal Cloning and Nanotechnology: More of the Same or Are “The Times They Are A-Changin"?, National Agricultural Law Center (2008).
    • Role of Regulation in Minimizing Terrorist Threats Against the Food Supply: Information, Incentives, and Penalties, 8 Minnesota Journal of Law, Science, and Technology 199 (2007).
    • Introduction to Food Law in the People’s Republic of China, National Agricultural Law Center (2007).
    • Unintended Risks to Developing Countries From Privatization of Global Agriculture and Food Sustainability Standards, World Food Law Institute Selected Symposium & Round Table Papers (2007).
    • Food Law Update, 2 Journal of Food Law & Policy (Spring 2006); 1 Journal of Food Law & Policy 517 (Fall 2005); 1 Journal of Food Law & Policy 187 (Spring 2005).
    • Food and Drug Protective Measures, Chapter 16, in Homeland Security Deskbook, (LexisNexis, 2004).
    • Mandatory Food Recall: A Sensible and Minimalist Approach to Improving Food Safety, 59 Food and Drug Law Journal 563 (2004).
    • Anatomy of the Government’s Role in the Recall of Unsafe Food Products, National Agricultural Law Center Research Articles (April 2004).
    • J.E.M. Ag Supply, Inc. v. Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.: It’s Meaning and Significance for the Agricultural Community 28 Southern Illinois University Law Journal 91 (Fall 2003).
    • Derecho Agrario, 18 Agro Enfoque 74 (March 2003). (Spanish translated text in Peruvian publication; article addresses agricultural biotechnology law issues in Developing Countries)
    • The Unique Role of State Trading Enterprises in World Agricultural Trade: Sifting Through the Rhetoric, 6 Drake Journal of Agricultural Law 287 (Fall 2001).
  • Other
    • Science Report Scandal Could Lead to Lawsuits That Hold Sugary Beverage Industry Accountable, NY Daily News (Nov. 1, 2016). Full Text
    • Role of Regulation in Minimizing Terrorist Threats Against the Food Supply, American Bar Association Homeland Security and National Defense Newsletter (Fall 2007).
    • No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: A Legal Guide to Avoiding the Perils of Publishing Agriculture Sustainability Standards in the Agri-Food Sector, White Paper (Feb. 2007). Also published in Food and Drink Magazine and Food Traceability Report.
    • How to Prevent More Tainted Spinach, Philadelphia Inquirer (Oct. 4, 2006).
    • Animal Identification: Confidentiality of Information, Livestock Marketing and Information Center (Oct. 2004).
    • Animal Identification: Liability Exposure and Risk Management, Livestock Marketing and Information Center (Oct. 2004).
    • Food Traceability & Assurance in the Global Food System, Farm Foundation’s Traceability and Assurance Panel Report (July 2004).

Courses Available

LAW 508

Food Law and Policy
Events
See All
11 19
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
1314
Law School Post- Election Programming
Read More