The right to grow up, to eat the food we choose

For the publisher:
Vote Yes on # 3 – Maine Constitutional Amendment – The Right to Grow and Eat the Food We Choose
Maine has been the oldest, poorest, and most dependent state in the county for generations. We import 90% of our food as a state (which is embarrassingly enough), and we are the state most at risk of disruption to corporate food supply chains (and we have been for over 42 years). , which is also a bit embarrassing).
The whole ‘animal cruelty’ argument to question # 3 is one of the most absurd positions I have seen, propagated only to spread misinformation and engage instinctive, based responses. on emotions. Reasonable standards of animal care already exist here in Maine and will continue to exist long after November 2, 2021.
Meanwhile, these nonprofits are content to suck in private donations under the guise of claiming to fight corporate injustices, but have remained silent or ineffective in the face of decades of industrial agriculture abuse of animals. .
The paltry fines the government has imposed for industrial animal abuse over the years are paltry compared to the profits reaped by these industrial meat monoliths, so large-scale animal abuse continues as it has. always done.
Industrial operations make up 5% of farms in the United States, but they receive about 95% of animal and safety offenses (not local Maine farmers).
So now the lobbyists for these nonprofits want to divert resources meant to tackle the abuse of industrial meat to the oppression of small farmers in Maine? The Mainers are simply looking for local food and economic resilience, striving to meet a need that has existed here for nearly fifty years and asserting their natural right to grow and eat whatever food they choose.
These nonprofit lobbyists may feel like they can prey on the minds of those who don’t know what it’s like to struggle for survival or to have no opportunities.
These nonprofit lobbyists may also think they may exploit the fears of those who donate to them and other similar nonprofits, claiming to be fighting the multinational monopolies that have last destroyed local family businesses. times. two generations, the essence of our community cohesion and our sense of belonging in this world.
It’s the very multinational conglomerate companies that steal water and consume the food markets of our small local businesses, repackage it as their ‘industrial version’ of healthy produce, and yet sell it where and when they can make a big splash. profit, however much fuel and oil it takes to create and get there, or the local businesses they trample on to control the market.
This is probably the reason why government fines for animals and security breaches on these multinational conglomerates are no different than when you late turn in a few books at a public library, and these non-profit organizations lucrative seem to agree with this.
When it comes to constitutional amendments, there are clearly restrictions on constitutional discourse and gun rights. This amendment commemorating a person’s right to grow and eat whatever food they choose certainly does not preclude competent and reasonable regulation of the care and placement of animals.
The argument of animal cruelty as the reason to deny Mainers the right to grow and eat the food they choose has long been refuted as baseless and seems hypocritical, when we all know what corporate conglomerates have done to animals over the past 50 years. . These nonprofits turned a blind eye, and the argument carries no weight after knowing that over 75% of the Maine State House of Representatives and the Senate voted in favor of this constitutional amendment. after years of diligent effort to carefully craft it.
Please have the strength to allow Maine to lead the nation, which is its motto, Dirigo, by continuing to decentralize food production, providing opportunities and restoring more equitable and healthy relationships within our communities.
In the best interest of the people of Maine, please support a yes vote on number 3, and maybe give a little less to nonprofits that compromise their own mission and purpose, and a little more to support your local farmers. .
Dan Davis
Carry
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