Food Law in the City

We are pleased to announce the 8th annual Canadian Association for Food Law and Policy (CAFLP) conference. The conference, entitled “Food Law in the City”, will take place from November 13 to 15, 2024 in Montreal, Quebec, in collaboration with the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). The aim of the conference is to bring together experts from diverse backgrounds to discuss current and emerging legal issues in agri-food law and policy, with a focus on the unique challenges and opportunities facing cities and metropolises in terms of the regulation and governance of agrifood systems. 

Indeed, urban centers are increasingly faced with complex issues related to food security and cultural diversity (Li et al, 2023), local procurement (Royer, 2020), environmental sustainability and food and plastic packaging waste generation and management (Reynolds et al, 2020), as well as the protection of peri-urban agricultural landscapes (Mesley, 2022). In response, and under restraints prescribed by jurisdictional powers, city centers have leveraged a variety of legal and political tools (Dufresne, 2024; Couture-Ménard and Rioux Collin, 2019). The theme of this year’s conference aims to explore these legal and political responses, as well as to foster dialogue and collaboration between the multiplicity of actors in the field.

Topics of discussion will include: 

  1. Food security and self-sufficiency in urban areas, particularly in terms of availability as well as physical and economic access to adequate food (culture, values, biological and nutritional needs, etc.);

  2. Institutional food supply chains, transport, and processing, short food supply chains, and urban agriculture;

  3. Sustainability of agri-food systems and the role of public law in the development and implementation of environmental standards;  

  4. The challenges and opportunities around creating legal frameworks for agri-food technological innovation (e.g. generative AI, cellular agriculture, precision agriculture, etc.);

  5. Land protection and agricultural activities, agricultural land management, municipal zoning regulations, and farmland trusts;

  6. Governance of urban food systems, including the jurisdiction and powers of municipalities and local authorities in the agri-food sector; and

  7. Regulation of beverages, particularly alcoholic and sugar-sweetened beverages.