Symposium on food rights to address sustainable agriculture

Local and international food rights will be the subject of a Feb. 6 symposium put on by the Green Business Initiative Student Association, Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation and Oregon Review of International Law at the University of Oregon.

“Cropping Up: Exploring Food Rights in your Backyard and Around the World” will take place in the Lee Barlow Guistina Ballroom of the Ford Alumni Center. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. and opening remarks begin at 9:30 a.m.

The symposium brings together important regional and national thought leaders, policymakers, legal practitioners, academics and students to engage in discussions on how to develop a more sustainable model for agriculture and food systems. The conference features keynote speakers Neil Tharpar and Eric Holt-Giménez.

Thapar, staff attorney at the Sustainable Economies Law Center, specializes in food and agriculture-related legal issues and is an advocate for policy changes that remove legal barriers to cooperative models of ownership.

Holt-Giménez has been executive director of Food First since 2006. He is the editor of the Food First book “Food Movements Unite! Strategies to Transform Our Food Systems” and co-author of “Food Rebellions! Crisis and the Hunger for Justice.”

Conference organizers have applied for Oregon State Bar continuing legal education credits.

The conference registration cost is $20 for practicing bar (CLE credit), $5 for the general public and free for University of Oregon students, faculty and staff. For additional registration and conference details, visit law.uoregon.edu/org/gbisa/symposium/