AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) - The Maine Senate on Wednesday rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that could have weakened food safety standards after a Republican senator who previously worked as a farmer spoke passionately against the bill at a party caucus.
The Senate rejected the measure 18-13in an initial vote with no debate. That’s far short of the two-thirds majority required. The House on Tuesday had overwhelmingly supported the bill.
Senate Republicans say Sen. Peter Edgecomb of Aroostook County slowed the momentum of the bill. At 74, he’s the oldest member of the Senate and co-chairman of the Legislature’s agriculture committee. The usually reticent lawmaker spoke at length against the bill during the Republican’s morning caucus, warning that it would threaten public health and Maine’s agriculture industry.
The proposed amendment, an outgrowth of Maine’s “food sovereignty” movement, states that all individuals have a “natural, inherent and unalienable right to acquire, produce, process, prepare, preserve and consume the food of their own choosing.”
Proponents say burdensome federal licensing and safety regulations make it prohibitively expensive for community-based farmers and food producers to sell their food. The amendment could have led to relaxed safety standards for many small-scale food producers.
Democratic Rep. Craig Hickman, the movement’s leading proponent, owns a 25-acre organic farm in Winthrop and co-chairs the Legislature’s agriculture committee. When he introduced the bill last year, Hickman said everyone has a “right to the food of their own choosing.”
Edgecomb said he couldn’t sleep Tuesday night because he was so anxious after the House vote.
The proposed amendment sounds appealing, he said. But just one fatality from tainted meat or produce would have undermined the public’s confidence in Maine’s agricultural industry, he said. He noted that the state’s potato, blueberry and dairy industries all strongly opposed the measure.
“It would have shred all the safety regulations we’ve had for food in the state,” said Edgecomb, who grew up on a potato farm and later ran an poultry egg business. “In my career, I have never spoken so long on a bill. Nothing has been more important than this bill.”
Sen. Kimberly Rosen, a Republican from Bucksport, said Edgecomb’s concerns and reputation as an agricultural expert swayed most of her Republican colleagues to vote against the measure.
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