Meet Our Speakers - Heather McLeod Kilmurray
Name: Heather McLeod-Kilmurray
Title: Associated Professor at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law
Education: SJD University of Toronto; LLM University of Cambridge
Q: Tell us a bit about your work and how it relates to or involves the governance of food systems?
I am an Environmental Law Professor who has become very interested in Food Law and Policy. I co-edited a textbook called Food Law and Policy in Canada with my colleagues Profs. Angela Lee and Nathalie Chalifour, which features the work of many CAFLP members.
I am currently researching the issue of food waste, as well as school food programs and campus food insecurity. I am a member of the Ottawa Food Policy Council.
Q: What is an ongoing and/or emerging food law and policy issue that you have come across?
Food waste is an enormous issue affecting food security, food prices, food justice as well as climate change. It is a global problem, but it manifests differently around the world. This is an important issue because food loss and waste are environmental emergencies. In Canada, 58% of the food that is produced is lost. Tackling food waste could reduce green house gas emissions, and help protect the soil, water and air. Further, reducing food waste addresses sustainable development goals and the right to food. There is a growing international awareness of the issues associated with food waste (see the Climate Change and Biodiversity Conference of the Parties 2023).
The solution requires a full overhaul of the agri-food system. How a problem is perceived drives policy choices. Although there are many “end-of-pipe” solution proposals, we need to tackle the core drivers of systemic over-production. The key environmental policy issue is finding WIN-WIN-WIN solutions.
Q: Can you give us a hint of something you will talk about at the conference?
Food waste is in fact the topic of our panel presentation! Three of us will be speaking about it. I have been working for a couple of years with Allison Penner, Executive Director of the NGO Reimagine Agriculture, and Prof. Patricia Galvao-Ferreira of the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie, and with several students on how the law can be a driver or help reduce food waste. I have also been working on a comparative law paper about food waste in Canada, the UK and Brazil with Prof. Galvao-Ferreira and Prof. Carrie Bradshaw of the University of Leeds that I am looking forward to sharing at the conference.
Q: You’ve published a really interesting article on toxic battery. Could you explain a bit more about what toxic battery is, and who may be liable to those who are adversely affected.
Toxic battery is any intentional physical contact involving exposure to a toxic substance released by a defendant, such as a harmful substance into air, water, or soils, or including it in a consumer product. As you can see, this encompasses a vast array of products and people that could be affected.
Regulations already govern maximum residue limits for things like pesticides in food. However, it is an interesting question whether a consumer could/should sue the government for negligence. There could be tort cases against negligent government inspectors, producers, suppliers, or retailers if dangerous substances are found in food.
Ecojustice, acting for Safe Food Matters, David Suzuki Foundation, Friends of the Earth Canada and Environmental Defence have sued Health Canada for re-registering glyphosate. There have also been petitions to ban it in Canada.
*Heather spoke on the panel titled “Addressing Food Loss and Waste”.