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United States
美國版塊
Food rules
食物規則
Reaping what you sow
種啥得啥
Maine's new "right to food" could sprout legal challenges
緬因州的新“食品權”可能引發法律質疑
Like every farmer Courtney Hammond, who grows blueberries and cranberries in Washington County, Maine, has a lot of worries.
像每個在緬因州華盛頓縣種植藍莓和蔓越莓的農民一樣，考特尼·哈蒙德也有很多擔憂。
He frets about weather, invasive species, failed crops and global prices.
他擔心氣候不好、物種入侵、收成不好和全球價格等問題。
To abide by federal food-safety laws, he has had to do training, maintain meticulous records, have insect- and rodent-control plans and document daily the sanitation of his processing equipment.
為了遵守聯邦食品安全法，他必須接受培訓，保持詳細的記錄，制定昆蟲和嚙齒動物控制計劃，每天記錄加工設備的衛生情況。
It is a tremendous amount of work but it means, he says, "I don't have to worry about anybody getting sick from eating anything that leaves my farm."
這是一項龐大的工作，他說，“但這意味著，我不必擔心任何人因為吃了從我農場生產的任何食品而生病。”
Now he is worried that a new law may put his hard work in jeopardy.
現在他擔心一項新法律可能會危及他的辛勤工作。
Earlier this month 61% of voters opted to change the state constitution to ensure that all Mainers had a "right to food", the first law of its kind in America.
本月早些時候，61%的選民選擇修改州憲法，以確保所有緬因州人都有“食物權”，這是美國第一部此類法律。
The constitutional amendment’s main proponents included a conservative lobsterman, a liberal raw-milk organic farmer, the Sportsman Alliance (a hunting group) and Cumberland County Food Security Council.
憲法修正案的主要支持者包括一位保守的龍蝦養殖者、一位自由的生奶有機農場主、運動員聯盟（一個狩獵團體）和坎伯蘭縣食品安全委員會。
The pandemic has shone a light on food insecurity in Maine.
這場疫情暴露了緬因州的糧食不安全狀況。
Now, Mainers have the "unalienable right to food…to grow, raise, harvest, produce and consume the food of their own choosing".
現在，緬因人擁有“不可剝奪的食物權……種植、飼養、收獲、生產和消費他們自己選擇的食物”。
The amendment sounded innocuous, but sceptics are wary of its impact.
這項修正案聽起來無傷大雅，但懷疑者對其影響持謹慎態度。
Marge Kilkelly, a former state lawmaker who raises turkeys as well as pigs and goats, points out that most people don’t know much about farming:
飼養火雞、豬和山羊的前州議員瑪吉·基爾凱利指出，大多數人對農業不太了解：
"It does not happen in an instant.You don’t just get the turkey seed and put water on it. Poof, there’s a turkey."
“這不是一瞬間發生的。不能拿一顆火雞種子，澆點水，噗，就有一只火雞長出來，不是這么簡單。”
Opponents of the amendment worry that its vague wording opens towns to legal challenges over local zoning and other ordinances.
反對該修正案的人擔心，該修正案含糊不清的措辭使城鎮在地方分區和其他條例方面面臨法律挑戰。
Rebecca Graham of the Maine Municipal Association expects everything from hunting laws to food programmes to be challenged, at great cost to the taxpayer.
緬因州市政協會的麗貝卡·格雷厄姆預計，從狩獵法到食品計劃，一切都將受到挑戰，納稅人將為此付出巨大代價。
Rules like the one in Portland, the state’s largest city, which allows residents a maximum of six hens (no roosters) could be ignored or challenged in court—never mind cows grazing in front gardens.
波特蘭是該州最大的城市，允許居民最多飼養六只母雞（不能有公雞）的規定可能會被忽視或在法庭上受到質疑，更不用說在前花園吃草的奶牛了。
Janelle Tirrell, head of the Maine Veterinary Medical Association, is concerned about the treatment of farm animals by people ill-equipped to look after them: people will "use that right-to-food defence to justify the keeping of animals in ways that violate our current laws".
緬因州獸醫協會負責人珍妮爾·蒂雷爾，對那些沒有能力照料家畜的人對家畜的治療方案表示擔憂：人們將“利用食物權作為辯護理由，證明飼養家畜是合理的，這完全違反了我們現行的法律”。
Others foresee environmental impacts, such as contaminated water supplies.
其他人則預見到環境影響，如供水受到污染。
Some farmers fear that amateurs will introduce invasive species that could damage their crops.
一些農民擔心業余愛好者會引入物種導致生物入侵，從而損害他們的作物。
Billy Bob Faulkingham, the Republican state representative who championed the measure, pooh-poohs these concerns.
支持這項措施的共和黨州代表比利·鮑伯·福克漢姆對這些擔憂嗤之以鼻。
He thinks court challenges are unlikely.
他認為人們不太可能向法庭提出質疑。
Frivolous ones will be dismissed.
輕率馬虎的人將被解雇。
The law will give Mainers more ownership of the food supply, he argues: some 90% of the state’s food is imported.
他認為，這項法律將賦予緬因州更多的食品供應自主權：該州90%的食品是進口的。
Alluding to the constitutional right to bear arms, he says: "I call this the second amendment of food."
在稍微提到憲法賦予的攜帶武器的權利時，他說：“我稱之為食品的第二修正案。”
His partner across the aisle, Craig Hickman, a Democratic state senator and an organic farmer, says not everyone is going to start farming or raising animals, but this will "inspire people to shop locally" or even share their land with their neighbours.
他的競選對手、民主黨州參議員、有機農戶克雷格·希克曼說，不是每個人都會開始耕種或飼養動物，但這將“激勵人們在當地購物”甚至與鄰居分享他們的土地。
This chimes with local culture.
這符合當地文化。
Despite its relatively small farm industry, Maine supports its producers.
盡管緬因州的農業規模相對較小，但該州支持其生產者。
The state's constitution gives farms property-tax breaks.
該州憲法給予農場財產稅減免。
Some communities pay people to farm their land.
一些社區付錢讓人們耕種他們的土地。
The state has been experimenting with food sovereignty.
該州一直在試驗糧食主權。
More than a hundred towns have adopted ordinances that allow food "self-government", letting towns make their own rules for food products.
100多個城鎮通過了允許食品“自治”的法令，允許城鎮制定自己的食品規則。
Producers in these places can sell directly to customers, offering, say, unpasteurised milk without a licence (meat and poultry are excluded).
這些地方的生產商可以直接向客戶銷售，比如說，提供未經消毒的牛奶而無需許可證（肉類和家禽除外）。
Farm-to-table restaurants are immensely popular.
從農場到餐桌的餐館非常受歡迎。
Maine is a "foodie" destination.
緬因州是一個“美食”目的地。
Tourists flock there for its lobsters, blueberries and cranberries.
游客們蜂擁到這里來吃龍蝦、藍莓和蔓越莓。
Julie Ann Smith, of the Maine Farm Bureau, wonders how food safety can be maintained without regulations.
緬因州農業局的朱莉·安·史密斯在想，如果沒有規章制度，食品安全如何得以維持。
That is why Mr Hammond is so anxious about the new amendment.
這就是哈蒙德先生對新修正案如此焦慮的原因。
It will take only one tourist sickened by blueberries sold by an amateur to taint all Maine farmers, not just "the guy with three tomato plants on his porch".
只需一名游客因業余愛好者出售的藍莓而患病，緬因州所有農民就都會受到影響，而不僅僅是“門廊上有三株番茄植物的家伙”。
