Factory Aquaculture vs. The Right to Food: The First Conflict on American Shores
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Date
2023-04-28
Authors
Heipt, Wendy
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon School of Law
Abstract
While the human right to food, or the ability to access adequate amounts of appropriate and available food, is included in international treaties and has been adopted by numerous countries across the globe, until recently the right was not legally possessed by any American. That changed in November 2021 when the people of Maine approved a state constitutional right to food amendment. Now that Mainers have this right, questions of how it will be implemented, who will be impacted, and what laws and regulations it will change have been widely debated. This Article examines the possible impact Maine’s constitutional right to food can have on large-scale aquaculture. For the past several years, Maine has been the focus for multiple companies seeking to build and operate supersized salmon fish farms in the United States. With the adoption of Maine’s constitutional right to food, a new element has been introduced into the debate about large-scale aquaculture—one that can impact the legal rights of the fishermen and advocates seeking modifications or a halt to these plans. After defining the right to food, this Article explains the similarities between large-scale aquaculture projects and large-scale factory farms. Following an examination of the conflict between land-based factory farms and the right to food, this Article offers ideas of how Maine’s right to food amendment can impact the current aquaculture debate in the state.
Description
36 pages
Keywords
Right to food, International treaties, Constitutional rights, Factory farms, Maine (United States)
Citation
38 J. Env’t. L. & Litig. 171