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8.3.3 Food
Models for more comprehensive food regulation include several statewide initiatives which, while focused on strengthening the economic viability of the farming
industry and reducing health care costs related to a poor-quality diet, include
references to energy–agriculture or water–agriculture linkages.
New York’s Farm to School program, in which 43% of New York school districts
participated in 2016, promotes the use of farm produce by local school districts,
potentially reducing the carbon impact of food distribution. However, the NYS
Department of Agriculture and Markets states the goals of the legislation are to
“strengthen local agriculture, improve student health, and increase local food
systems awareness,” without mention of reducing energy consumption or impacts
on water resources. Next door, the Massachusetts Local Food Action Plan places a
similar priority on increasing “production, sales, and consumption of
Massachusetts- grown foods” and creating agriculture-related jobs, but also
acknowledges the importance of protecting water resources and the environment
more broadly.
8.4 Human Rights as a Guiding Principle?
In Sect. 6.2.4, we noted that the notion of human rights with respect to food, energy,
and water has begun to emerge in international discussion and, more concretely,
through treaties under the United Nations system. Some countries have included
one or more of the FEW rights (especially food, secondarily water) in their
constitutions or national laws, and many governmental programs attempt to
implement one or more of the FEW rights for all citizens or all inhabitants. In the
USA, access to FEW resources at the most basic level is not assured. But a growing
number of federal, state, and local programs attest to the increasingly strong political
drive to support affordable access to these necessities.
Both federal and state programs implement a limited entitlement for food,
although adversarial politics can lead to threats to reduce or eliminate funding for
these programs. While there is no federal assistance program for routine water
access in the USA, both FEMA and state programs provide bottled water universally
in emergencies, and some states (e.g., California) have begun to develop programs
that guarantee residential water to all residents.
The Federally funded, state-administered Low Income Energy Assistance
Program defrays costs of heating and cooling for low income families, and some
states and cities. (e.g., Pennsylvania and New York) have their own programs that
provide financial assistance with utility bills, and on-bill financing for energy-saving
upgrades. These are not always the result of government largesse, however; one
such program in New York, for instance, depends on the generosity of customers
voluntarily adding a dollar or two to their bill payments in order to assist others who
8 US Governance
8.3.3 Food
Models for more comprehensive food regulation include several statewide initiatives which, while focused on strengthening the economic viability of the farming
industry and reducing health care costs related to a poor-quality diet, include
references to energy–agriculture or water–agriculture linkages.
New York’s Farm to School program, in which 43% of New York school districts
participated in 2016, promotes the use of farm produce by local school districts,
potentially reducing the carbon impact of food distribution. However, the NYS
Department of Agriculture and Markets states the goals of the legislation are to
“strengthen local agriculture, improve student health, and increase local food
systems awareness,” without mention of reducing energy consumption or impacts
on water resources. Next door, the Massachusetts Local Food Action Plan places a
similar priority on increasing “production, sales, and consumption of
Massachusetts- grown foods” and creating agriculture-related jobs, but also
acknowledges the importance of protecting water resources and the environment
more broadly.
8.4 Human Rights as a Guiding Principle?
In Sect. 6.2.4, we noted that the notion of human rights with respect to food, energy,
and water has begun to emerge in international discussion and, more concretely,
through treaties under the United Nations system. Some countries have included
one or more of the FEW rights (especially food, secondarily water) in their
constitutions or national laws, and many governmental programs attempt to
implement one or more of the FEW rights for all citizens or all inhabitants. In the
USA, access to FEW resources at the most basic level is not assured. But a growing
number of federal, state, and local programs attest to the increasingly strong political
drive to support affordable access to these necessities.
Both federal and state programs implement a limited entitlement for food,
although adversarial politics can lead to threats to reduce or eliminate funding for
these programs. While there is no federal assistance program for routine water
access in the USA, both FEMA and state programs provide bottled water universally
in emergencies, and some states (e.g., California) have begun to develop programs
that guarantee residential water to all residents.
The Federally funded, state-administered Low Income Energy Assistance
Program defrays costs of heating and cooling for low income families, and some
states and cities. (e.g., Pennsylvania and New York) have their own programs that
provide financial assistance with utility bills, and on-bill financing for energy-saving
upgrades. These are not always the result of government largesse, however; one
such program in New York, for instance, depends on the generosity of customers
voluntarily adding a dollar or two to their bill payments in order to assist others who
8 US Governance