MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • July 18, 2021
Maine voters in November will be the first in the nation to consider embedding in the state constitution an amendment that establishes a fundamental right to grow and consume food for their own nourishment. The proposal, which will be on the Nov. 2 ballot, is the result of a nearly decadelong effort that represents an evolution of the movement that produced the Maine Food Sovereignty Act. That landmark law authorized cities and towns to adopt local food ordinances, and more than 90 have done so. “You have to have a right to food because food is life,” said Sen. Craig Hickman, D-Winthrop, an organic farmer who has long championed the cause. Hickman expects an onslaught of misinformation ahead of the vote, likely from opponents backed by multinational agricultural companies and the factory farm industry. The Mills Administration submitted testimony neither for nor against the amendment.