By Michaela Oldfield / Global Food Law Fellow
You may have noticed it’s been a while since my last post.
Well, my fellowship with the Institute for Food Laws & Regulations is
wrapping up, so I’ve been occupied with finishing journal articles and frankly
not quite sure what to write for a final post.
Except I don’t want to never post again and leave people
thinking, “Did she move to Iceland or Peru or somewhere?” (No, those are just
places I would like to visit some day)
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| Michaela Oldfield at the MSU summer food law seminar. |
I spent some time pondering whether to write about a
recent food law issue and act like nothing is changing – for instance, I could
write something explaining the possible importance and very gnarly knot of the FDA
deciding to redefine healthy - or I considered trying to give some current
and future food law students advice about how
to build a food law career.
Or, and this is what I’ve decided to do, I can write a
bit about food law as part of the larger educational opportunities at Michigan
State University. Because even though I’m looking forward to the next step of my
career, I want others to recognize and take advantage of the amazing resources at
MSU.
My original purpose with this blog has been to try to
demonstrate to current and potential students how lawyers might analyze a food
policy issue. I wanted to give readers an idea of what it means to “think like
a lawyer” so that they could see what they would be getting into if they
pursued a Certificate in International Food
Law or a Master’s in Global Food
Law.
I would also note there are a number of other online
degrees that match up nicely with these programs, including a master’s degree
in food safety or public health and perhaps even an MBA.
Of course, I’ve strayed from my legal analyses because
I’m not only a lawyer. I’ve also studied sociology, geography, public policy,
political science, behavioral economics, etc., as part of an interdisciplinary
Ph.D. to understand the history and operations of our food and agriculture
systems policies. It is hard for me to separate my policy-oriented thinking
from precise legal analysis, because what I care about is the “so what” of the
legal analysis for understanding the larger systems issues.
I chose MSU for my graduate studies because it’s a place
I could study food law and policy from these numerous angles. I wanted to gain
understanding of the variety of perspectives on how food systems operate and
build skills for critically analyzing what is wrong with, and how to fix, our
food systems. I consider this interdisciplinary thinking key to solving
challenges such as public health and sustainability (among a potential litany
of others) because no one discipline can fully understand things so complex as
our food and agriculture systems and the societies in which they operate.
Being on campus, I’ve also been able to connect with faculty
across the university studying food systems from any number of angles – food
science, food safety, nutrition, ag econ, international development, agrifood
sociology, labeling and standards, regional food systems development, local
food systems planning, entomology, crop and soil sciences, the list easily goes
on and on. But I have known and/or worked with someone in each of these areas
whose work I think is exciting and valuable.
As the Global Food Law Fellow, I’ve been able to really
dive into the nitty gritty of food law issues, including through writing this
blog. Working with our students and planning the Food Law Seminar has been a
rewarding experience that has given me new perspective on the regulatory
complexities and challenges facing food companies. But everything I’ve learned
has been informed by my interactions with other MSU researchers, and, I think,
helped me develop a more nuanced understanding of these challenges.
For anyone interested in food law or food systems, there
really is an incredible abundance and diversity of researchers here who can
broaden your perspective on the context in which food law operates. So while
I’m sure many of you already know that MSU is a leader in Food Law, also
remember it is a leader in many other food issues.
Which is all to say, when you discover you need expertise
beyond food law, go explore some of the rest of what MSU has to offer.
Skál and chau!!!
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