Sen. Hickman bill to strengthen Mainers’ right to food becomes law
AUGUSTA — On Sunday, June 15, LD 124, “An Act to Protect the Right to Food,” became law without the governor’s signature. The law, sponsored by Sen. Craig Hickman, D-Winthrop, will expand Mainers’ access to food by strengthening the Maine Food Sovereignty Act, establishing the Maine Vegetable Garden Protection Act, promoting community gardens and food forests and increasing access to land.
“The people of Maine have a right to food, as enshrined in the state Constitution,” said Sen. Hickman. “However, access to food and the land on which to produce it remains limited for many Mainers, especially veterans and people with a history of generational poverty. Food is a human right, and I will not stop fighting until all Maine people have access to healthy, culturally appropriate food.”
LD 124 further clarifies Maine’s right to food. It expands edible landscaping on public property — including in the Legislature’s own Capitol Park — by encouraging community gardens and food forests. The bill also declares that Maine people have a right to grow vegetable gardens through the enactment of the Maine Vegetable Garden Protection Act. Additionally, LD 124 provides for the right to food to be a part of the strategy to end hunger in Maine by 2030.
This law defines food sovereignty and food sovereignty principles in Maine statute for the first time since the Maine Food Sovereignty Act became law in 2017. Furthermore, it requires the Maine Farms for the Future Program review panel, to the extent practicable, to give priority consideration to applicants who have a history of generational poverty or land dispossession in the United States or from applicants who are veterans.
LD 124 allows the Bureau of Parks and Lands to lease land and parcels of land in parks and historic sites, nonreserved public land and public reserved land for purposes of cultivating edible crops, hay or pasturage for livestock and allows the bureau to give priority consideration in establishing those leases to individuals with a history of generational poverty or land dispossession, or to veterans.
LD 124 will take effect 90 days after the First Special Session of the 132nd Maine State Legislature adjourns sine die.
Sen. Hickman is an organic farmer from Winthrop who co-authored Maine’s first-in-the-nation right to food constitutional amendment. He co-chairs the Maine Agriculture, Food System and Forest Products Infrastructure Investment Advisory Board. Sen. Hickman represents Maine Senate District 14, which includes Chelsea, Farmingdale, Gardiner, Hallowell, Manchester, Monmouth, Pittston, Randolph, Readfield, Wayne, West Gardiner and Winthrop.
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