Description

Within the United States, the so-called Food Movement has gained a lot of public attention for transforming the way people think about the food they eat. The popularity of organic food, farmer’s markets, farm-to-table eating, and other modern takes on traditional food practices all speak to the political power of the Food Movement. One of the factors that makes the Food Movement a unique social movement in the United States is that it is a rare example of political consensus. That is, the Food Movement is not a single-party issue. But this political consensus tends to hide the diverse values that motivate individuals to participate in the food movement. Some participants engage to advance egalitarian and progressive food policies while others engage to establish a more liberal, local, minimally regulated food economy. This ideological diversity is important for policymaking and advocacy. This talk will describe the diverse values that underlie the Food Movement in the United States and will argue that these values should not just impact the direction of food policy, they should also impact the specific legal tools that food advocates chose and policymakers implement. Only when legal tools fit with the values that support their use can a movement claim that it has achieved “value sincerity.”

About The Speaker

Josh Galperin is a Visiting Associate Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He is also a special advisor to environmental law programs at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Prior to joining the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, he was on the faculty at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and Yale Law School. Josh’s research focuses on modes of participation in the US legal system focusing on environmental law, food law, and administrative law.