Second Annual HLS-UCLA Food Law and Policy Conference: Drugs, Animals, and Food: Law & Policy of Antibiotics in the Food System

October 23, 2015, 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Description

The debate over antibiotic use in animal agriculture combines elements of science, ethics, politics, and law. Between fifty and eighty percent of all antibiotics sold in the United States are fed to farm animals raised for human consumption––both to promote animal growth and reduce disease in food-producing livestock living in high-density conditions. This agricultural antibiotic use significantly contributes to the evolution of drug-resistant bacteria that affect our ability to treat and prevent human disease, and serious animal welfare concerns exist regarding the concentrated environments this antibiotic use enables. Considerable social and financial costs weigh on both sides of the issue, and the legal system is invoked with each new dispute. This symposium explored the many facets of the debate with presentations by leading legal advocates, health sciences experts, and public policy scholars.

For more information, contact thefoodlawlab@law.harvard.edu.

Agenda

All panels included time for audience Q & A.

8:30 - 8:45am, Registration

8:45 - 9:00am, Welcome

  • Jacob Gersen, Founder and Director, Harvard Food Law Lab, Harvard Law School

9:00 - 10:30am, Panel 1: The Case for Reducing (or Not) Antibiotic Use in Animals?

  • Anna Cecilie de Klauman, Minister Counselor, Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, Danish Royal Embassy

  • Lance B. Price, Professor, George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health

  • Moderator: Kristen Stilt, Director, Animal Law and Policy Program and Islamic Legal Studies Program, Harvard Law School

10:45am - 12:15pm, Panel 2: Approaches at the Federal Level: Legislation, Regulation, and Enforcement

  • Erik Olson, Senior Strategic Director for the Food & Agriculture and Health Programs, Natural Resources Defense Council

  • Kelsey Eberly, Litigation Fellow, Animal Legal Defense Fund

  • Lisa Heinzerling, Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center

  • Kevin Outterson, Professor of Law and Professor of Health Law, Bioethics & Human Rights, Boston University School of Law

  • Moderator: Emily Broad Leib, Director of the Food Law and Policy Clinic; Deputy Director of the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation, Harvard Law School

12:15 - 1:30pm, Lunch Break

1:30 - 3:00pm, Panel 3: Beyond Federal Regulation: Other Approaches for Change

  • Michael Roberts, Executive Director, UCLA School of Law Resnick Program for Food Law and Policy

  • Janice Nadler, Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Northwestern University Law School; Research Professor, American Bar Foundation

  • Joshua Brau, Program Manager, Food with Integrity (FWI), Chipotle Mexican Grill

  • Stephanie Tai, Associate Professor of Law, University of Wisconsin Law School

  • Moderator: Kim Kessler, Policy and Special Programs Director, UCLA School of Law Resnick Program for Food Law and Policy

3:00 - 3:15pm, Closing Remarks

  • Jacob Gersen, Founder and Director, Harvard Food Law Lab, Harvard Law School

Learn More

Check out the 2014 conference, "Transparency in the Global Food System: How Much Information and to What Ends?," and learn more about the Food Law Lab!

This event was cosponsored by the Harvard Food Law Lab and the UCLA School of Law Resnick Program for Food Law and Policy, with support from the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic, the Harvard Animal Law & Policy Program, and the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School.

Tags

animals   bioethics   fda   food   food law lab   health law policy   pharmaceuticals   public health   regulation