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This month Diana is in discussion with UCLA Law student Melissa Deng and Robyn Huey Lao, an allergy mom advocate and pediatric nurse practitioner, about Robyn’s journey to shepherd California Senate Bill 68, the Allergen Disclosure for Dining Experiences, to passage.  She explains how she was inspired by her nine-year-old daughter, Addie, and how their love of food inspired this bill. The three talk about building coalitions, the process of introducing bills to the legislature, and the importance of legal research. Melissa also explains her work at UCLA on restaurant training for food allergens.   You can find Robyn’s website, Addie Tells All, here. You can follow her on Instagram at @AddieTellsAll You can find the law review article, Fearless Dining: Mandating Universal Allergen Disclosures on Restaurant Menus, that started Robyn thinking here.   You can find Melissa Deng on LinkedIn here.   Diana Winters is the Deputy Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy at UCLA Law.

In this episode, Diana and Michael are joined by Professor Lingxi Chenyang to discuss her article, “Food Antidemocracy,” forthcoming in the Southern California Law Review. In this article, Professor Chenyang looks at the Farm Bill’s hidden history, delving into the antidemocratic techniques that were used to initially pass this law and tracing some of the major problems in our modern food system to this history. “Food Antidemocracy” is a fascinating look at the underpinning of the American food system.   Professor Chenyang is an Associate Professor at the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law.   Michael T. Roberts is the Executive Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy at UCLA Law.    Diana Winters is the Deputy Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy at UCLA Law.   You can find “Food Antidemocracy” here.    You can see Dorothea Lange’s “Migrant Mother” photograph here.  

In this month’s episode, Michael and Diana talk with Amanda Mrad and Juliet Cushing, two UCLA students who are involved with the World Food Forum and who participated in its annual flagship event at FAO headquarters in Rome this October. Juliet Cushing is a clinical researcher with the UCLA Department of General Internal Medicine, working on diabetes prevention and chronic disease management. Juliet graduated from UCLA with a degree in Human Biology and Society, and a minor in Food Studies. Amanda Mrad is a double Bruin, holding a degree in physiology and food studies and currently pursuing an MLS degree, specializing in food law. She is also currently interning at the FAO headquarters, where she works within the Office of Youth and Women, home to the World Food Forum.  Diana Winters is the Deputy Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy at UCLA Law. Michael T. Roberts is the Executive Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy at UCLA Law. Some relevant links are here: World Food Forum (WFF) Join a WFF National Youth Chapter  UCLA Teaching Kitchen   UCLA MLS Program As always, you can send questions or comments to Diana Winters at [email protected]. 

Today, Repast welcomes Mary Eichenberger, the new Editor-in-Chief of the University of Arkansas School of Law’s Journal of Food Law & Policy (JFLP). Here, Michael, Diana, and Mary discuss the background of this seminal journal, its history of publishing crucial food law and policy scholarship, and her plans for its future.  Mary Eichenberger is from Clarksville, Arkansas where she grew up on her family’s cattle farm. She is a 3L student at the University of Arkansas School of Law and currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Food Law & Policy. While in law school, Mary has served on the executive board for the Food & Ag Law Society and the Rural Law Association. She graduated from the University of Arkansas in 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business and minors in legal studies and southern studies. Mary currently works as a Research Fellow at the National Agricultural Law Center. After law school, Mary plans to pursue a career in agricultural and food law with an emphasis on policy. In her free time, she enjoys reading, baking, and spending time outdoors. Diana Winters is the Deputy Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy at UCLA Law. Michael T. Roberts is the Executive Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy at UCLA Law.   You can find a link to the JFLP here. You can find the JFLP’s LinkedIn here. The JFLP is on Instagram at @arkansas_foodlawandpolicy. As always, you can send questions or comments to Diana Winters at [email protected]. 

In this episode of Repast, Michael and Diana host Emily Broad Leib, Clinical Professor of Law, Director of Harvard Law School Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation, and Founding Director of the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic (FLPC), and Akif Khan, Clinical Fellow at the FLPC. They discuss the FLPC’s long history of working on food waste and food date labeling, and a comment the FLPC recently submitted in response to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Request for Information on Food Date Labeling, drafted by Akif.   Michael T. Roberts is the Executive Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law and Policy at UCLA Law. Diana Winters is the Deputy Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy at UCLA Law.   The link to the FLPC’s comment is here. The link to the Zero Food Waste Coalition comment is here. You can find the FLPC’s Food Loss and Waste Policy Hub here.

This month on Repast, Diana talks with Maria Trubetskaya and Justine Kim, UCLA Law’s inaugural Future of Food Fellows. The Future of Food Initiative was created as an interdisciplinary collaboration between graduate students working in different fields to address issues and obstacles in the creation and path to market of cultivated meat. Here, Diana, Maria, and Justine discuss cultivated meat, its regulation, this collaboration, and more.   Justine is a rising 3L at UCLA Law School, interested in pursuing personal injury law. Maria graduated from UCLA Law in May 2025 with a specialization in Critical Race Studies. They are joining a big law firm this fall as an associate in their commercial litigation practice.    Diana Winters is the Deputy Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy at UCLA Law.   A link to the flyer for the Future Food Symposium, held spring 2025, is here.  

Today, Repast welcomes Kim Kessler, the Assistant Commissioner for the Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention and Tobacco Control at the New York City Department of Health, Dipa Shah Patel, the Director of the Los Angeles County Public Health Department's Nutrition and Physical Activity Program, and Paula Daniels, the Director of the L.A. County Office of Food Systems. Kim, Dipa, and Paula join Diana to discuss how agencies within municipalities can work together to reduce chronic disease.    This conversation was sparked by a strategy released by the New York City Health Department in January of this year titled Addressing Unacceptable Inequities: A Chronic Disease Strategy for New York City—a multiagency strategy that addresses the root causes of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and screenable cancers, and outlines proposals and interventions to reduce the incidence of chronic disease.   Kim Kessler is the Assistant Commissioner for the Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention and Tobacco Control at the New York City Department of Health.   Dipa Shah Patel is the Director of the Los Angeles County Public Health Department's Nutrition and Physical Activity Program.    Paula Daniels is the Director of the L.A. County Office of Food Systems.   Diana Winters is the Deputy Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy at UCLA Law.   You can find Addressing Unacceptable Inequities: A Chronic Disease Strategy for New York City here.   You can find the L.A. County Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Report here.   As always, you can send questions or comments to Diana Winters at [email protected]. 

In this episode of Repast, Diana is joined as co-host by Lavanya Sathyamurthy, UCLA Law student and co-founder of the Food, Race, and Equity Initiative. Diana and Lavanya talk with Professor Denisse Córdova Montes from the University of Central Florida.  Here, the three discuss Professor Córdova Montes’ career as a human rights advocate and educator, her work as the Acting Associate Director of the University of Miami School of Law’s Human Rights Clinic, and a human rights approach to the right to food, among other things.   Professor Córdova Montes is an Assistant Professor at the University of Central Florida.    Diana Winters is the Deputy Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy at UCLA Law.   You can find blog posts about the Food, Race, and Equity Initiative at UCLA Law here and here.   You can find Professor Córdova Montes’ Maine Law Review article on the Maine right to food here.   You can find a link to the National Right to Food Community of Practice’s website here.   You can find the article titled The “Second Amendment of Food”: Some Reflections on American Liberalism, commented on in the podcast, here.        

Today on Repast, Michael, Diana, and Professors Amy Cohen and Susan Schneider look at the new Trump administration and food policy, discussing background policies, underlying trends, and state initiatives. The four discuss the complex political and cultural dynamics in food policy, agricultural policy and the USDA, nutrition initiatives and the FDA, and trade policy and international food law. They talk about the role of misinformation, big tech, the need for strong leadership, left-right alliances, and the transactional nature of the administration, among other things.   This podcast was recorded on January 24, 2025, before the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services or the Secretary of Agriculture was named.     Amy Cohen is Professor and Robert J. Reinstein Chair in Law at Temple University School of Law.   Susan Schneider is the William H. Enfield Professor of Law at the Arkansas School of Law and the Director of the LL.M. Program in Agricultural and Food Law.   Michael T. Roberts is the Executive Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy at UCLA Law.   Diana Winters is the Deputy Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy at UCLA Law.   You can find Amy Cohen and Mathilde Cohen’s article titled “The 'Second Amendment of Food': Some Reflections on American Liberalism,” here.   As always, you can send questions or comments to Diana Winters at [email protected]. 

In this episode, recorded in late December 2024, Michael and Diana talk with Dr. Darin Detweiler, a prominent food safety academic, advisor, advocate, and author. Dr. Detwiler has significantly influenced food safety policies through roles with the USDA, FDA, and others. He is a Professor at Northeastern University, an adjunct professor of food law at Michigan State University, and Founder and CEO of Detwiler Consulting Group. His career, spanning over 30 years, is highlighted in the Emmy Award-winning 2023 Netflix documentary "Poisoned: The Dirty Truth about Your Food."    In addition to traveling around the world as a keynote speaker, Dr. Detwiler’s work and insights appear regularly in various publications, news outlets, and podcasts, as well as his books: “Food Safety: Past, Present, and Predictions” and “Building the Future of Food Safety Technology: Blockchain and Beyond.”  Notably, he is the recipient of the International Association for Food Protection’s 2022 Control of Foodborne Illness Award as well as their 2018 Distinguished Service Award for dedicated and exceptional contributions to the reduction of risks of foodborne illness.   Here, Dr. Detwiler discusses the recent spate of foodborne illness outbreaks, and he looks to the past to predict, and make recommendations for, the future.   You can find more information on Dr. Detwiler here.    You can read about the documentary Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food here.   Michael T. Roberts is the Executive Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy at UCLA Law.   Diana Winters is the Deputy Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy at UCLA Law.          

In this episode, Michael and Diana talk with Nicola Twilley, the author of Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves (Penguin Press, June 2024), and co-host of the award-winning Gastropod podcast, which looks at food through the lens of history and science. They discuss supply chains, how refrigerated beef changed America, and the trade-offs of refrigeration, among other things.    Nicola Twilley is an author and podcast host, and you can find more information on her here.    Michael T. Roberts is the Executive Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy at UCLA Law.   Diana Winters is the Deputy Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy at UCLA Law.   You can buy Frostbite here.   You can listen to Nicky’s podcast, Gastropod, here.   You can find Nicky’s latest articles in The New Yorker here.        

This month on Repast Michael and Diana talk with Amanda Howell, managing attorney at the Animal Legal Defense Fund. They discuss a recent petition by the ALDF to the FDA urging the FDA require the disclosure of animal-derived ingredients on package labels, along with other work the ALDF is doing right now.    Amanda Howell is a managing attorney at ALDF.   Michael T. Roberts is the Executive Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy at UCLA Law.   Diana Winters is the Deputy Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy at UCLA Law.   You can find ALDF’s petition to the FDA here.   A list of cases ALDF is involved in can be found here.   The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004, discussed in the podcast, cab be found here.

In this episode, Michael and Diana talk with 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, the U.S. Supreme Court case Nestle USA Inc. v. Doe (2021), and how lawyers, advocates, and students can make a difference in this area. Catherine Sweetser is Deputy Director of the Promise Institute for Human Rights and the Director of the Human Rights Litigation Clinic at UCLA Law. Michael T. Roberts is the Executive Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy at UCLA Law. Diana Winters is the Deputy Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy at UCLA Law.   You can find Nestle USA Inc. v. Doe (2021) here. The book Bitter Chocolate by Carol Off, mentioned by Professor Sweetser, can be found here. The citation for the law review article mentioned by Professor Sweetser is:  Burley, Anne-Marie, The Alien Tort Statute and the Judiciary Act of 1789: A Badge of Honor, 83 Am. J. Int'l L. 461 (1989).

This month, Repast welcomes Southwestern Law School Professor Andrea Freeman to discuss her book, Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: The Politics of Food in the United States, from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch, published by Macmillan Publishers in July 2024.  This book describes and analyzes how food is used by the U.S. as a tool of colonization and oppression and discusses some avenues to alter this trajectory.   Here, Diana, Michael, and Professor Freeman discuss her theory of food oppression, government programs to supply food to people, the role of milk in food oppression and discrimination, the dietary guidelines, and possible avenues of change, among other things.   Andrea Freeman is Professor of Law at Southwestern Law School in fall 2023. Michael T. Roberts is the Executive Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy at UCLA Law. Diana Winters is the Deputy Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy at UCLA Law.   You can buy Ruin Their Crops on the Ground here.  You can find Professor Freeman’s bio and links to her other work here. Professor Freeman was interviewed on NPR about her book here.

Our guest at Repast this month is Austin Frerick, author, and expert on agricultural and antitrust policy, talking with us about his new book, Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry (March 2024).  In Barons, Frerick depicts the structure of the American food system by telling the story of seven food industry tycoons, delving into the monopolization of the food system and the resulting corruption.  Here, Austin, Michael, and Diana discuss the problems with industry concentration, when strange bedfellows can make meaningful reforms, and how all roads eventually lead to Arkansas.   You can buy Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry here. You can read about Austin Frerick and more about Barons here.   Michael T. Roberts is the Executive Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy at UCLA Law. Diana Winters is the Deputy Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy at UCLA Law.