In the spring of 2015, our team traveled to Missoula, Montana to understand the impact of Montana’s highly restrictive date-labeling law, which has been in effect since 1980. The law requires all milk to bear a “sell by” date label of 12 days from the date of pasteurization and mandates that such milk be removed from shelves once the date arrives. Milk cannot be sold or donated after that date. As a result, countless gallons of milk get needlessly discarded. Consumers also suffer because milk in Montana typically costs more than in neighboring states.
While this is the most restrictive state-level date labeling law in the country for milk, our research has shown that it is far from the only date labeling law imposing senseless requirements on manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. For example, while Montana requires a “sell by” date that is 12 days after pasteurization, Maryland allows for the “sell by” date to be up to 18 days after processing and New Jersey allows the date to be established by the processor.
This patchwork of state laws and regulations is part of a national problem —one that creates customer confusion, limits retailers’ ability to sell or donate wholesome food, and causes unnecessary food waste. In response to this challenge, this film calls for a national solution.
We believe our film, EXPIRED, is central to this effort, and will be a powerful catalyst for change, offering a visual and visceral understanding of the problem, raising awareness about ways to combat it, and engaging key stakeholders on the issue.
About the Filmmakers
FLPC and Racing Horse Productions produced EXPIRED as a collaborative effort between two programs at Harvard Law School: one that aims to provide hands-on opportunities for students to learn about and improve the laws and policies shaping the food system, and one that aims to test and teach media advocacy techniques in the context of real-world practice.
Students and faculty in the FLPC worked with Harvard Law School professional filmmakers Rebecca Richman Cohen and Nathaniel Hansen to plan, produce, edit, and distribute the video. Our approach to teaching and learning is focused on strengthening legal media advocacy skills—empowering students to tell compelling stories in tactically and legally sophisticated ways to effectively sway public opinion and affect policy change. FLPC students involved in this project worked on this film as a media advocacy component of their greater project of conducting legal and policy research, educating consumers and policymakers, and pushing for policy change to reduce the waste of healthy, wholesome foods in the United States.
The Food Law and Policy Clinic is an experiential learning program at Harvard Law School devoted to educating students about the laws and policies structuring the food system while offering them opportunities to work hands-on with clients and partners in this field.
Executive Producer: Emily Broad Leib
Producers: Ona Balkus, Kelliann Blazek, and Christina Rice
Writers: Melissa Alpert, Emily Cole Groden, Emily Deddens, Lee Miller, Kelly Nuckolls, Katherine Sandson, Rohan Taneja, and Steven Xie
Racing Horse Productions is a documentary film production company dedicated to illuminating vital stories about law and justice.
Director and Producer: Rebecca Richman Cohen
Producer, Editor and Director of Photography: Nathaniel Hansen
Location Audio: Mike Kasic and Billy Wirasnik
Additional Camera: Shaun Clarke
Consultant: Ian Cheney
