Food & Drug Law Prof Blog

Symposium on Food Standards and Global Food Trade: Quality, Safety and Sustainable Development

The World Food Law Institute at Howard University School of Law is hosting a symposium in conjunction with World Food Day.  Food standards and Global Trade: Quality, Safety and Sustainable Development will take place October 16, 2007 – 9:30-2:30 p.m. at The Cosmos Club, 2121 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC. 

World Food Day October 16

World Food Day is October 16 every year.  A teleconference, Climate: Changes, Challenges and Consequences, takes place from 12:00 noon to 3:00 p.m. Tuesday, October 16, 2007.  Click the link above for details.

Background about World Food Day USA:

Since 1981 World Food Day has been a story of concern and action at all levels in communities around the world. For 62 years the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN has been at work wherever its skills have been needed, and for 27 years the citizens of the world have been joining forces with FAO through the annual worldwide observance on October 16th to focus on FAO’s efforts and to add their own impact in a thousand ways. The following selection of events and activities is a sample of what is happening this year.  Link to Events

Food Stamp Challenge

Some members of the U.S. Congress already took the Food Stamp Challenge.  This week Jeremy Kalin, a William Mitchell law student and Minnesota state representative is trying it.  The following is from a Fox News article:

State Rep. Jeremy Kalin is taking the Food Stamp Challenge, according to the Minnesota Campaign Report blog. From June 25 to June 29, the Minnesota Partners to End Hunger are challenging all Minnesotans to eat on an average $3 per day food stamp budget to raise awareness about food stamp funding in the federal Farm Bill.

Representative Kalin's blog comments can be found at: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/6/26/02641/8971

(Note:  Jeremy Kalin is a student in my income tax class this summer.  DMB)

Food Stamp Program Misses Many

From an article by Gary Feuerberger of the Epoch Times

While many poor are being aided by the federal Food Stamp Program and other federal nutrition programs, many eligible people, including millions of children, miss out and go hungry, according to a new report.

Compiled annually by the Food Research and Action Center or FRAC, the report was released June 4th. The report tracks the 50 states plus the District of Columbia on their poverty rates, the extent of hunger, and how well they are doing in making use of nutrition programs available to them. . . .

This year the Food Stamp Program is up for reauthorization. FRAC would like to see something done about getting the benefits of the program to more eligible people. Only 60% of currently eligible people are participating in the program. Fewer still, 51%, of eligible low income working people are participating. . . .

Low Income Working Families Use of Food Stamps

It's assumed by many that the recipients of Food Stamps are unemployed or unemployable. But in fact, many lower income working people, including those leaving welfare, have need for food stamps to supplement their incomes. Nationally, just over half (51%) of eligible working families are participating. Virginia's participation rate is the same as the total U.S. at 51%. Maryland is below average at 44%, and the District is lower still at 41% of eligible working families participating in the Food Stamp Program.

FRAC is an organization that receives support from a number of foundations and associations to work towards its objective of eradicating hunger and under nutrition in the nation. FRAC used official statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to compile its report on the nutrition programs. Data on poverty rates and population came from the U.S. Bureau of the Census.

For FRAC's website, visit http://www.frac.org/

For the rest of the article: http://en.epochtimes.com/news/7-6-11/56341.html

FDA Commissioner Announces New Food Protection Position

Commissioner of Food and Drugs Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach today announced the creation of the position of Assistant Commissioner for Food Protection to provide advice and counsel to the Commissioner on strategic and substantive food safety and food defense matters.

David Acheson, M.D., F.R.C.P. will be assigned to this new senior leadership role.
Currently, Dr. Acheson serves as chief medical officer and director of the Office of Food Defense, Communication and Emergency Response at the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN).

In his new role, Dr. Acheson will work with individual FDA product centers, as well as the Office of Regulatory Affairs to coordinate FDA’s food safety and defense assignments and commitments.

Read the rest of the press release

Food Defense Training materials on FDA Website

The FDA has a webpage for Food Defense and Terrorism, which includes an attractive audio/visual presentation on food defense.  Here's the link: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/alert/alrt01.html

New Haven gets new Food Policy Council

The City of New Haven has established a Food Policy Council.  Food is a basic need, and just as there is a water authority and a housing authority, the city thought there should be a body to ensure that healthy food is available. 

With the expertise of members from diverse backgrounds, supporters of the council think it has the potential to address economic and cultural concerns associated with poor nutrition, as well as to seriously improve access to locally grown, nutritious food for all residents - Yale students and low-income residents included.

New Haven ranked near the bottom of Connecticut cities in terms of "food security" according to a report issued last year.

[Food security is] a term which reflects the nutritional adequacy, equitable pricing and geographic accessibility of a region's foods. The measurement also evaluates whether citizens have access to transportation to reach food and whether the foods consumed encourage the city to be self-reliant in case outside food sources are compromised. Officials from CitySeed, the non-profit organization focused on sustainability that pioneered the council's creation, said the body was not formed in direct response to the study's low ratings, but the report brought to light many issues that supporters hope the council will address.