Food is Life: A teach-in on the right to food in Maine
- Photini Kamvisseli Saurez
- May 22
- 3 min read
On May 21, 2025, participants in this year’s Maine Food Convergence attended a virtual session titled “Food is Life: A Teach-in on the Right to Food.” At this session, co-author of Maine’s right to food amendment, Heather Retberg of Quill’s End Farm, and Jesse Watson, permaculture designer, teacher, and builder, shared the story behind the right to food in Maine and encouraged participants to learn about the role we all have in putting this into practice.
At the virtual teach-in, Jesse Watson explained how rights-based laws function in a different way than regulatory frameworks, and how both are needed to bring about a type of food system that will end hunger and support local food economies. Heather Retberg walked participants through more than a decade of food sovereignty and right to food advocacy that grew out of concerns small-scale farmers had about how to ensure communities could grow, share, and consume the food of their choice. This advocacy, and the persistence of the campaign leaders, resulted in an important victory in 2021, when a majority of Mainers voted to enshrine the right to food into Maine’s constitution.
Heather described the language of the amendment as poetic and invited us to read it slowly while we sat for a minute of silence:
Section 25. Right to food. All individuals have a natural, inherent and unalienable 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.
Heather and Jesse reminisced on the point at which they crossed paths at MOFGA’s annual Common Ground Fair, in a small tent full of excitement, energy, and hope for the future of food advocacy in Maine. Heather also shared the vital role of co-author Senator Craig Hickman in developing and adapting the legislative strategy over the years (see below for a link to Senator Hickman’s recent keynote at the Food to Institution New England summit where he shares his story of how the right to food amendment came to be). Connections - of ideas and individuals - were central to the strategy that led to this historic achievement.
Heather highlighted that over 90% of Maine’s food is imported, noting the vulnerability that this creates in the face of external forces such as environmental and economic disasters or global pandemics. She also shared the importance of locating the right to food within the state constitution as a stronger guarantee than ordinary legislation that can withstand the types of changes in administrations, funding, and policy priorities that had undermined previous efforts to improve the food system in Maine. The presentation described the right to food amendment as a solid foundation in the barn for the ‘walls’ of legislation and regulation that will bring this to life in our communities. This constitutional foundation, the first and only of its kind in the United States, creates greater resilience in the face of “external shocks.”
Heather left the group with important reminders about adapting, passing the baton, and continuing in the face of big losses, sharing the reminder, “try, try again.” Jesse highlighted the importance of continuing to build on the momentum we’ve seen across the state by passing food sovereignty ordinances in every town. Themes of Dignity, Agency, and Freedom appeal to people across the political spectrum, and Jesse reminded us that we need to bring everyone together to advance this work.
To hear a keynote speech titled “Food is Life” by Senator Craig Hickman, co-author of Maine’s right to food amendment, click here.
To read more about constitutionalizing the right to food in Maine, click here.
