TN Urgent Alert - Support Right to Food 2/20 Vote on SRJ 0902

Tell Committee to Vote YES on SRJ 0902

Support a Constitutional Amendment for the Right to Food

On Tuesday, February 20th at 3pm central Senate Joint Resolution 0902 (SJR 0902) will have a hearing before the Tennessee Senate Judiciary Committee. SJR 0902, known as the Right to Food Amendment, would add the following language to the state constitution:

All individuals have a natural, inherent, and unalienable right to food, including the right to save and exchange seeds and to consume the food of their own choosing 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 acquisition of seeds or food.

All individuals have the right to grow, raise, harvest, and produce food of their own choosing on land that is not zoned for a particular use, or that is zoned for agricultural or residential use, or that is zoned for mixture of uses that includes agricultural or residential use, by the local government entity that is authorized by law to zone such land, as long as 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 such foods.

The right to grow, harvest, produce and consume food is a basic fundamental right; the resolution is a commonsense protection of that right—something that is especially needed with hyperinflation in food prices, supply chain disruptions, rolling shortages of various foods, and the deprivation of fundamental health freedoms throughout the country over the past few years as well as an increasing lack of transparency as to what ingredients are actually in foods in the conventional system.

The federal government has significantly increased its power since the onset of COVID; FDA, the agency charged with regulating 80% of the food supply, has made the following statements about our freedom of food choice:

“There is no absolute right to consume or feed children any particular food.”

“The assertion of a fundamental right to their own physical and bodily health … is unavailing because [consumers] do not have a fundamental right to obtain any food they wish.”

The right to bodily autonomy, the right to determine what foods we put in our bodies, is something that can no longer be taken for granted; who would have thought that millions in this country would be threatened with the loss of their livelihood if they did not get an experimental “vaccine”? It’s time to give our right to food a higher level of protection.

ACTION TO TAKE

Call and/or email Senate Judiciary Committee members and ask them to vote YES on SJR0902. Calls are best. It is especially important to contact a committee member if you are a constituent. Consider using any of the Talking Points below.

You may copy/paste this block of email addresses to contact all members of the committee (also see phone numbers at the end):

Sen.Dawn.White@capitol.tn.gov; sen.paul.rose@capitol.tn.gov; sen.todd.gardenhire@capitol.tn.gov; sen.sara.kyle@capitol.tn.gov; sen.jon.lundberg@capitol.tn.gov; sen.kerry.roberts@capitol.tn.gov; sen.john.stevens@capitol.tn.gov; sen.brent.taylor@capitol.tn.gov; sen.london.lamar@capitol.tn.gov

TALKING POINTS

1. The cost of food is skyrocketing, making it more difficult for many to purchase food adequate for their nutritional needs. It’s imperative that the state provide the maximum possible legal protection for people to grow and produce their own food.

2. The resolution will give Tennessee residents stronger protection in a court of law if a government agency, corporation or individual is illegally interfering with another individual’s right to grow, raise, harvest, produce, and consume foods of choice.

3. The resolution will not preempt any animal welfare law. There can still be actions for nuisance if there is interference with a neighbor’s enjoyment of their property.

4. Oversight of food processing and commerce by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture and the Tennessee Department of Health remains. The resolution will not make it mandatory that the government provide food; it could actually reduce current government expenditures on food for the needy by encouraging people to be more self-sufficient in producing food, decreasing food insecurity.

5. The resolution will reduce dependence on the corporate food supply by increasing state and local resiliency and self-sufficiency in food production, leading to the development of stronger community food systems.

6. The decentralization of food production and decision-making will improve food security. Currently there is as little as three days’ worth of food in the conventional pipeline at any given time.

COMMITTEE CONTACTS

Below is contact information for each member of the Tennessee Senate Judiciary Committee.

Sen Brent Taylor (615) 741-3036
Sen Dawn White (615) 741-6853
Sen Paul Rose (615) 741-1967
Chairman Todd Gardenhire (615) 741-6682
Sen Sara Kyle (615) 741-4167
Sen John Lundberg (615) 741-5761
Sen Kerry Roberts (615) 741-4499
Sen John Stevens (615) 741-4576

Sen London Lamar (615) 741-2509

Bill Link for SJR0902 – https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=SJR0902&fbclid=IwAR2FstS5e0IMomIPawn7ICLgTONAIzsNN5tJONIPOym8kV0bjh IPhM3h40

Senate Judiciary Committee – https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/CommitteeInfo/SenateComm.aspx?ga=113&committeeKey=670000

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