By Steve Ahlquist in Rhode Island’s Future
The Conservation Law Foundation(CLF)
announced the creation of the Rhode Island Legal Food Hub, a free legal services clearinghouse for
farmers, food entrepreneurs and related organizations.
Sumana
Chintapalli,
a CLF Legal Fellow/Attorney is the coordinator of the RI Legal Food Hub.
Legal
services are so expensive that some farmers go proceed without such services,
putting their business at risk or they pay too much for legal services, harming
other aspects of their business.
To
help solve this problem Chintapalli will work to pair farmers and food
entrepreneurs with free legal aid from a stock of volunteer lawyers.
Not-for-profit
orgs with farmer and food entrepreneur as members and community groups with a
mission of social justice issues related to the food system may also qualify.
Chintapalli
explained that to qualify for free legal services a farmer’s net
annual income may not exceed $30 thousand and annual household income may not
exceed 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Level.
About
95 percent of farms in Rhode Island would qualify under this cap, estimates
Chintapalli.
- Transfering the family farm to the next generation
- Helping a farmer’s market become an LLC
- Providing legal assistance to create an urban community garden
- Negotiating a joint venture arrangement with potential investors
- Advising on intellectual property, patents and trademarks
Those
wishing to access the service as well as lawyers interested in volunteering can
contact the LegalFood Hub by phone at 844-LAW-GROW or by email at legalfoodhub@clf.org
Steve Ahlquist is an award-winning journalist, writer, artist and
founding member of the Humanists of Rhode Island, a non-profit group dedicated
to reason, compassion, optimism, courage and action. The views expressed are
his own and not necessarily those of any organization of which he is a member. atomicsteve@gmail.com or Twitter:
@SteveAhlquist