Decoding Complexity and Navigating Change: Understanding the Trump Administration and Food Policy with Professors Amy Cohen and Susan Schneider

Today on Repast, Michael, Diana, and Professors Amy Cohen and Susan Schneider look at the new Trump administration and food policy, discussing background policies, underlying trends, and state initiatives. The four discuss the complex political and cultural dynamics in food policy, agricultural policy and the USDA, nutrition initiatives and the FDA, and trade policy and international food law. They talk about the role of misinformation, big tech, the need for strong leadership, left-right alliances, and the transactional nature of the administration, among other things.

This podcast was recorded on January 24, 2025, before the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services or the Secretary of Agriculture was named.  

Amy Cohen is Professor and Robert J. Reinstein Chair in Law at Temple University School of Law.

Susan Schneider is the William H. Enfield Professor of Law at the Arkansas School of Law and the Director of the LL.M. Program in Agricultural and Food Law.

Michael T. Roberts is the Executive Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy at UCLA Law.

Diana Winters is the Deputy Director of the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy at UCLA Law.

You can find Amy Cohen and Mathilde Cohen’s article titled “The 'Second Amendment of Food': Some Reflections on American Liberalism,” here.

As always, you can send questions or comments to Diana Winters at winters@law.ucla.edu.