Right to Food
Maine has stood at the forefront of the fight for food sovereignty since its passing of the Maine Food Sovereignty Act in 2007. In its latest move for food freedom, Maine voters said yes to the constitutional amendment establishing a constitutional “Right to Food” last week.
Maine has stood at the forefront of the fight for food sovereignty since its passing of the Maine Food Sovereignty Act in 2007. In its latest move for food freedom, Maine voters said yes to the constitutional amendment establishing a constitutional “Right to Food” last week.
The amendment stated that individuals have a “natural, inherent, and unalienable right to food, including the right to save and exchange seeds and the right to grow, raise, harvest, produce, and consume the food of their own choosing for their own nourishment, sustenance, bodily health, and well-being, as long as an individual does not commit trespassing, theft, poaching, or other abuses of private property rights, public lands, or natural resources in the harvesting, production, or acquisition of food.”
This is a momentous moment in the fight for food freedom as it is a first in the United States. It is expected that producers will have greater control over their food production and consumers will have increased access to healthy, fresh foods as a result. The amendment also has the potential to strengthen local food systems as it opens the door to food production outside of corporate controlled agriculture in the U.S.
The small growers responsible for this victory included members of the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF). Read more about Maine’s new “Right to Food” on FTCLDF’s blog here.