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Welcome to the Maryland Risk Management Education Blog, provided by the University of Maryland Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics and features the work of the Maryland Crop Insurance Education program and the University of Maryland - MPowering the State's Agriculture Law Education Initiative, a University of Maryland Extension Signature Program. This blog provides readers with information on risk management issues important to Maryland agriculture, upcoming events, and new materials that may interest readers.
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Sarah Everhart
- Oct 16, 2018
- 3 min
A Class Action Lawsuit Over Carnitas- Schneider, et al v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.
By Sarah Everhart See here for the site’s reposting policy. On September 29, the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California granted a motion for class certification in Schneider, et al v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., Case No. 16-cv-02200-HSG. The four plaintiffs in the case are alleging that Chipotle’s claims that its products were “non-GMO” and “GMO-free” violated California, Maryland, and New York consumer protection laws. According to Maryland’s consumer
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Admin
- Sep 1, 2017
- 2 min
Weekly Roundup Sept. 1st
By Sarah Fielder Injured Woman Sues Organizers of the Punkin Chunkin Championship
A Delaware woman injured last year during the Punkin Chunkin Championship in Delaware has sued the organizers, the state agency in charge of checking the air cannon used, and the Discovery Channel in federal court. The plaintiff claims injuries due to the negligence of the parties involved. This comes on the heels of organizers struggling to find sponsors and potentially having to cancel this
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Admin
- May 12, 2017
- 3 min
Weekly Roundup May 12th
By Sarah Fielder Undercover Video of Pennsylvania Dairy Released
Compassion Over Killing has released an undercover video of alleged abuse on a Pennsylvania dairy this week. The dairy is responding to these allegations currently. The story in Dairy Herd Management highlights what farms should do when faced with a crisis such as this, check out the story here http://bit.ly/2q2NOTJ. Syngenta Class Action Update
Tiffany Lashment on her blog has a very good update of the ongoin
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msuri1
- Aug 15, 2016
- 5 min
GMO Labeling Timeline – What Happened and Why? Part II
By Mayhah Suri and Ashley Ellixson The past few weeks have been chock-full of developments on the genetically modified organisms (GMO) labeling front. Late last month, President Obama has signed a bill requiring all foods containing GM ingredients be labeled. Today is the second in a two-part blog post on this huge development in food law. For a refresher on what “GMO” means, check out Ashley’s post from last year. As mentioned in part one of this series , the U.S. Departmen
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msuri1
- Aug 11, 2016
- 4 min
GMO Labeling Timeline – What Happened and Why? Part I
By Mayhah Suri and Ashley Ellixson The past few weeks have been chock-full of developments on the genetically modified organisms (GMO) labeling front. As we reported in our news post last Friday, President Obama has signed a bill requiring all foods containing GM ingredients be labeled. Today is the first in a two-part blog post on this huge development in food law. This post lists the timeline of key events over the past three years which brought us to this point. The timeli
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Admin
- Mar 15, 2016
- 2 min
Two More New England States Look at GMO Labeling
By Ashley Ellixson If you read last week’s post on Vermont’s genetically modified organisms (GMO) labeling bill, you should be up to speed on what is going on at the state level when GMO labeling is discussed. To review, on April 23, 2014, Vermont became the first state requiring labeling of GMO foods. Vermont’s legislature approved a bill requiring raw agricultural commodities and processed foods offered for sale in Vermont retail stores to display special labeling (with c
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Admin
- Feb 23, 2016
- 2 min
Vermont’s Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) Labeling Law: UPDATED!
By Ashley Ellixson Not too long ago, I gave an overview of genetically modified organisms and labeling laws in respect to them. To summarize, there is currently no Federal law requiring a label to state that a product contains genetically modified products. It is also important to note there is no Federal definition of genetically modified. With that said, on April 23, 2014, Vermont became the first state requiring labeling of GMO foods. Vermont’s legislature approved a bi
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Admin
- Jan 20, 2016
- 2 min
Oregon’s GMO Alfalfa Growers Settlement
By Ashley Ellixson Back on May 29, 2015, an Oregon Federal court issued its ruling in Schultz Family Farms, LLC v. Jackson County, addressing two legal topics currently seen often in the agriculture world: genetically modified crops and right to farm laws. The lawsuit began when the plaintiffs, several growers of genetically modified alfalfa in Jackson County, filed suit challenging the validity of Jackson County Ordinance 635, where voters approved a May 20, 2014, ban on gr
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Admin
- Jul 16, 2015
- 3 min
Right to Farm Claim Does Not Hold Up for Oregon Farmers Growing GMO Alfalfa
By Ashley Ellixson This article originally appeared in Lancaster Farming, Southern Edition, Saturday, July 4, 2015. On May 29, 2015, an Oregon Federal court issued its ruling in Schultz Family Farms, LLC v. Jackson County, addressing two legal topics seen frequently lately in the agriculture world: genetically modified crops and right to farm laws. The lawsuit began when the plaintiffs, several growers of genetically modified alfalfa in Jackson County, filed suit challenging
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Admin
- Jun 17, 2015
- 3 min
Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015: GMO Discussion Continues
By Ashley Ellixson Remember when I said that there is no current Federal genetically modified foods (GMO) labeling law? And recall a few weeks ago when I updated you on Vermont’s GMO labeling law and its current constitutional challenge? Well, today I will outline what could eventually be a Federal GMO labeling law which would effectively preempt all state laws on the topic. So what does that mean exactly? There would be Federal regulations outlining requirements for GMO labe
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Paul Goeringer
- Jun 11, 2015
- 3 min
Frequently Asked Questions: Organic Crops and GMO Pollen Cross-Contamination
This post should not be construed as legal advice. For the most part, crops are in the ground and growing now, but issues can exist when we have genetically modified organism (GMO) crops growing near organics. Let’s talk about GMO contamination of organic crops. From time-to-time, many of you will ask, “What about GMO cross-pollination of organic crops?” Well, I’m sorry to tell you that there is no exact answer because this is a developing area of the law. That said, when
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Admin
- Jan 21, 2015
- 3 min
Food Labeling Continues: Let’s Talk About GMOs
By Ashley Ellixson Many of you have asked us to discuss genetically modified organism (GMO) labeling. This post will inform you of the present issues and the state of current regulations regarding genetically modified crops and foods. Right now there is no Federal law requiring a label stating that a product contains genetically modified products. It is also important to note there is no Federal definition of genetically modified. To clarify, let’s highlight a few definiti
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