Drugs, Animals, and Food: Law & Policy of Antibiotics in the Food System

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

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

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

12:15 – 1:30pm, Lunch Break

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

3:00 – 3:15pm, Closing Remarks

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.