October 20, 2021

AUGUSTA, MAINE -- The Maine Green Independent Party has endorsed referendum question 3, encouraging voters to cast a yes vote in the November 3rd election.

Question 3 asks, "Do you favor amending the Constitution of Maine to declare that all individuals have a natural, inherent and unalienable right to grow, raise, harvest, produce and consume the food of their own choosing for their own nourishment, sustenance, bodily health and well-being?"

If approved by voters, the Maine State Constitution will be amended by the addition of this article: 

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.

“Re-localizing our food system and building our communities is the greatest insurance policy we can have against disruptions of every kind," said Betsy Garrold, a former co-chair of the party. "Be they economic, political, environmental or a global pandemic. Resilience is built into the DNA of the people of Maine. This amendment allows us to manifest that resilience by taking back local control of our food system.”

The Maine Green Independent Party support the amendment because it aligns with the party's "Ten Key Values," which include grassroots democracy, decentralization, community-based economics and sustainability.   

"All of these core values of the party are enhanced and protected when the people are given more rights and control over their own life and choices," said Garrold.