I am writing as a concerned citizen to urge legislators to vote “ought to pass” on LD 928, the Pine Tree Amendment.

I am a hunter, fisherman, gardener and forager. The majority of my diet comes from food that I have either hunted, fished, foraged or grown myself.

Constitutionally enshrining my and all Mainers’ rights to a healthy environment also better ensures our abilities to exercise our food sovereignty. Food sovereignty is the right to healthy and culturally appropriate food, and it gives me the right to secure and define my own food and agricultural systems.

I feel that food sovereignty and the Pine Tree Amendment go hand-in-hand. Protecting the air, water and land, by extension, protects the woods, animals, fishes, plants and mushrooms that I and many others depend on. Protecting the natural world now means protecting food sources for future generations.

Food and the environment have always had intersectional relationships. Our abilities to feed ourselves and meet basic needs is intricately connected to our abilities to support our communities and future generations that will inherit these myriad ways of feeding themselves.

Winston Antoine, Lewiston