Maine’s new “right to food” could sprout legal challenges

LIKE EVERY farmer Courtney Hammond, who grows blueberries and cranberries in Washington County, Maine, has a lot of worries. He frets about weather, invasive species, failed crops and global prices. 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. 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.” Now he is worried that a new law may put his hard work in jeopardy.