Clean Food: The Next Clean Energy Revolution

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The world is in the throes of a clean energy revolution. This revolution has led to the ongoing demise of coal, and a shift towards clean and efficient energy sources like wind and solar. Despite these advances, the process of producing food for human energy remains extraordinarily dirty and inefficient. This Essay explores what it would look like to graft clean energy policy onto the human food system. It discusses what is wrong with the standards by which we currently evaluate food policy and how we might apply a clean human energy or “clean food” standard instead. It concludes that building a clean food grid should be the next clean energy revolution.
 

Visiting Lecturer on Law, Yale Law School; Lecturer on Law & Policy Director, Harvard Law School Animal Law & Policy Program; Adjunct Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center; Adjunct Professor of Law, New York University Law School. J.D. University of California, Hastings College of the Law; LL.M. Environmental Law, Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College. The author wishes to thank Bowen Chang and Cortney Ahern for their excellent research assistance, without which this Essay would not have been possible. Mathew Hayek, Yusef Al-Jarani, Peter Beck, Will Becker, Tony Binder, Nancy Perry, Declianna Winders, Katherine Barnekow, Tara Lewis, Viveca Morris, Elan Abrell, Ralph Henry, Jennifer Fearing, and Margie Robinson also provided significant review and assistance. Professor Douglas Kysar generously provided valuable insights and encouragement. The views expressed herein are strictly those of the author, as are any errors.