Our focus
The Legal Food Hub provides pro bono legal assistance by matching qualified attorneys in our network with…
Farmers
Food Entrepreneurs
& the Organizations that Support Them
Our Work
Over the last year, 80 attorneys donated more than 1,000 hours of time to help farmers, food businesses, and organizations navigate legal issues. In addition to matching participants with volunteer attorneys, we expanded our educational outreach, most recently creating free guides to help small farmers and food businesses understand legal essentials that could affect their operations. Here are just a few highlights of our work in 2019. Hover over each photo, then click to read more.
Another Milestone year
A surprising statistic prompted CLF to launch the Legal Food Hub five years ago. In a survey, only 10 percent of farmers reported using legal services, compared with nearly 70 percent of other small businesses.
We launched the Hub to give the movers and shakers in our local food system – our small farmers, startup food businesses, and local nonprofits – access to legal services to lower the barrier to entry and help sustain and grow farm and food businesses in New England.
As we celebrate five years of this work, we’re happy to report that the Hub’s services are making a difference to the 460 participants we’ve served. A recent survey revealed that most of our participants wouldn't have access to legal services if not for our program.
Most respondents agreed that the help they received through the Legal Food Hub freed up time and money for their business. This suggests that pro bono legal assistance helped break down critical barriers to their success. Our survey also showed that a majority of respondents believe they would not have been able to achieve the same results without the Legal Food Hub.
The evidence is clear: Five years in, we’ve made an impact for the better – which spurs us to keep working for a more sustainable, just food system in New England.
FIRMS in our network in four states
NEW ENGLAND STATES SERVED BY LEGAL FOOD HUB
CASES placed since June 2014
MILLION dollars leveraged since 2014
Latest News
We're launching a new Hub and supporting New England's farmers through challenging times.
distinguished service awards
The Legal Food Hub Team

Amy Laura Cahn

Amy Moses

Sara Dewey

Phelps Turner

Elena Mihaly

Mary Rose Scozzafava, Esq.
