News and Insights for Florida and North Carolina communities from Attorney Jesse Haskins

This past February and March, I had the pleasure of speaking at symposiums organized by the Florida Farmers Market Association on Community Supported Agriculture.

Nobody likes taxes, but local tax authorities should love farmers. It's not just tax authorities. When it comes to farmland, diverse groups love farms-for different reasons.

In the recent podcast, I talk about community supported agriculture and will also be participating in a free workshop about it with the Florida Farmers Market Association. Learn More.

In County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, No. 18-260, the Supreme Court of the United States interpreted the Clean Water Act's (CWA) requirement of a permit for "discharge of a pollutant.

In this post, I will focus on a preliminary victory for peanut farmers. I will cover more case developments from my article next week.

Precision agriculture has emerged as a technology promising to make agriculture more sustainable, both environmentally and economically.

On Friday, May 22, a Wisconsin bankruptcy court allowed the Small Business Administration to deny paycheck protection plans to three family farms.

This program is not perfect. But one problem-limits on funding-is surmountable for growers who apply early. So consider applying now.

On April 24, 2020, the Paycheck Protection Program and Healthcare Enhancement became law. Read how this affects farms and agricultural enterprises.

Coronavirus-induced food supply anxiety has led to a renewed interest in home gardens-similar to the "war gardens" movement of World War I and the "victory garden" efforts around World War II.

If this happens, states would lose their ability to protect consumers, workers, and businesses that want to ensure safety without being at a competitive disadvantage.

In the founding of our country, hemp wasn't just legal. Hemp production was patriotic. Our founding fathers wrote drafts of the Declaration of Independence on hemp. Hemp became a monetary staple.

Coronavirus highlights the need to build a sustainable future, to preserve our local food systems. This means preserving the land that sustainable agriculture depends on.

Paycheck Protection, like the EIDL, grew bigger under the CARES Act – the coronavirus relief bill signed into law on March 27.

A long time ago, in what the Florida Supreme Court calls "ancient law," no human appreciated the distinction between groundwater and surface water.

The Florida Food Policy Council works to address gaps and affect policy within the food system through integrity and collaboration for the benefit of all Floridians and the environment.

During this time, it is important that we come together as local food communities. As I have previously blogged about, community food provides us with security, safety, and serenity.

The coronavirus stimulus bill is now law. Its official name is the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act–or for those of us who more easily remember cute acronyms, the CARES Act.

This is the last of a series about the contribution of our local food systems to public health and safety, although I will continue to provide tips on dealing with COVID-19. For now, I am going to focus on the contribution of community agriculture to wellbeing.

This is the third post in a series on local food systems on local food systems and public safety. Today's post is about food-borne illness caused by the accidental poisoning of our food supply.

In 6th century B.C.E., the Assyrians, in modern day Iraq, poisoned enemy wells with rye ergot, a fungus disease.

This is the first in a series of blog posts on local food systems and public safety, starting with Coronavirus. That is the crisis right now.

There is no better starting point to think about the future than reflecting on the history of agriculture.