On November 2, 2021, Maine voters by a wide margin approved the nation’s first “Right to Food” constitutional amendment. The amendment states, in part: “Right to food. All 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.”
The new constitutional amendment should provide a template for other states following the food freedom movement. In the current environment of supply chain shortages and delays, finding ways to de-centralize food production and empower citizens to provide for themselves should be a no-brainer for state legislators.
In 2021, Texas’ “Home Food Security” bill that would have prohibited cities or HOA’s from banning few hens or rabbits, or front yard gardens, was voted overwhelmingly out of the Texas House, yet died in Senate committee when the Chairman Paul Bettencourt blocked it, even though it had enough votes to proceed to the full Senate for a chamber vote. To read more, scroll down to “The Bad“.) Since that time, supply chain woes and trucking shortages have plagued the country. In the past two years we have seen unprecedented shortages, whether due to COVID, inclement weather, or software hacks. Texas must pass a bill in 2023 that protects Texans’ right to provide food for themselves, their families, and their communities.
Texas, as a legendary bastion of independence and self-sufficiency, should be leading this movement, not playing catch-up.