The Center for Agriculture and Food Systems (CAFS) at Vermont Law School was awarded a generous grant from GRACE Communications Foundation to help support the center's operation and expansion through 2019, school officials recently announced.
In addition to supporting CAFS' current faculty and staff, the funding will be used to expand the center's Food and Agriculture Clinic by adding a new faculty member as well as a new program officer. The new hires will enable the clinic to reach more people through teaching and by increasing the design and development of legal tools to effect positive change in food systems.
"My colleagues and I at the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems are grateful for this generous grant from GRACE Communications Foundation and thank the GRACE team for continuing to support and believe in our leading program," said CAFS Director Laurie Ristino. "Their generosity enables us to expand CAFS' reach and build upon our clinic, which equips students with the practical skills necessary to become sustainable food and agriculture advocates and entrepreneurs while creating innovative legal tools for sustainable food stakeholders, from farmers to consumers."
Current clinic projects include a Farmers Market Toolkit, Farmland Tenure Toolkit, and Farm to School Legislative Survey.
"By supporting us, GRACE is supporting not only sustainable agriculture but public health, social and economic justice, local economies and animal welfare—interconnected issues that need our immediate attention," said Food and Agriculture Clinic Director Jamie Renner.
The Center for Agriculture and Food Systems at Vermont Law School is the most comprehensive agriculture, food and environmental law program in the nation, emphasizing systems-based problem-solving and entrepreneurial innovation. CAFS supports scholars and practitioners by producing practical, robust scholarship for use by the food and agriculture community, including the development of digital tools in partnership with leading organizations and government. For more information about CAFS, including the Food and Agriculture Clinic, visit vermontlaw.edu/cafs or email cafs@vermontlaw.edu.
GRACE Communications Foundation develops innovative strategies to increase public awareness of the critical environmental and public health issues created by our current industrial food system, and to advocate for more sustainable alternatives. By building partnerships and mobilizing philanthropic resources, GRACE promotes consumer actions and public policies that support sustainable food production and embrace the complex interconnections of food, water and energy. For more information about GRACE, visit gracelinks.org.
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Vermont Law School, a private, independent institution, is home to the nation's largest and deepest environmental law program. VLS offers a Juris Doctor curriculum that emphasizes public service; three Master's Degrees—Master of Environmental Law and Policy, Master of Energy Regulation and Law, and Master of Food and Agriculture Law and Policy; and four post-JD degrees —LLM in American Legal Studies (for foreign-trained lawyers), LLM in Energy Law, LLM in Environmental Law, and LLM in Food and Agriculture Law. The school features innovative experiential programs and is home to the Environmental Law Center, South Royalton Legal Clinic, Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic, Energy Clinic, Food and Agriculture Clinic, and Center for Applied Human Rights. For more information, visit vermontlaw.edu, find us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter.