SJR 11 (LSB 2317XS (2) 90)

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 11

BY  TRONE GARRIOTT

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

A Joint Resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Iowa recognizing a right of persons to food and a fundamental right to be free from hunger.

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  The following amendment to the Constitution of the State of Iowa is proposed:
   Article I of the Constitution of the State of Iowa is amended by adding the following new section:
   Sec. 24A.  Food security.  All people have a natural, inherent, and unalienable right to food, including the right to acquire, produce, process, prepare, preserve, and consume the food of their own choosing by hunting, gathering, foraging, farming, fishing, gardening, and saving and exchanging seeds or by barter, trade, or purchase from sources of their own choosing, for their nourishment, sustenance, bodily health, and well-being, as long as an individual does not commit trespass, theft, poaching, or other abuses of private property rights, public lands, or natural resources in the acquisition of food.
   All people have a fundamental right to be free from hunger, malnutrition, starvation, and the endangerment of life from the scarcity of or lack of access to nourishing food.
    Sec. 2.
  REFERRAL AND PUBLICATION.
  The foregoing proposed amendment to the Constitution of the State of Iowa is referred to the general assembly to be chosen at the next general election for members of the general assembly, and shall be published as provided by law for three months previous to the date of that election.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This joint resolution proposes to amend the Constitution of the State of Iowa by recognizing that all people have a natural, inherent, and unalienable right to food and that all people have a fundamental right to be free from hunger and a lack of access to nourishing food. The resolution, if adopted, would be published and then referred to the next general assembly (91st) for adoption, before being submitted to the electorate for ratification.