Recognizes right to adequate food.

SJR93

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

No. 93

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 24, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� RENEE C. BURGESS

District 28 (Essex and Union)

SYNOPSIS

���� Recognizes right to adequate food.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

A Joint
Resolution
concerning the right to adequate
food.

����
Be It
Resolved
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� a.� The Legislature
finds and declares that the State shall:

���� (1)�� establish the principles
and bases for the promotion, protection, respect, and guarantee of the
effective exercise of the right to adequate food and interdependent rights;

���� (2)�� promote planning and
coordination between State, county, and municipal entities in its actions aimed
at guaranteeing the full exercise of the right to adequate food;

���� (3)�� promote the production,
supply, fair and equitable distribution, and consumption of, nutritious,
sufficient, high-quality, safe, and culturally appropriate foods to promote the
protection and exercise of the right to adequate food and to avoid food waste
to the greatest extent possible;

���� (4)�� strengthen the State�s
self-sufficiency and food security;

���� (5)�� establish the bases for
social participation in actions aimed at achieving the full exercise of the
right to adequate food; and

���� (6)�� promote the creation of
sustainable food environments that encourage informed consumption of healthy
and nutritious foods.

���� b.��� The Legislature further
finds and declares that all people, individually and collectively, shall have
the right to adequate food at all times, to have access to food for daily
consumption, as well as physical and economic access to safe food of
nutritional quality and in sufficient quantity to satisfy their physiological
needs at all stages of their life cycle, enabling their full development and a
dignified life, in accordance with individual and cultural needs, without
jeopardizing the satisfaction of other basic needs and without hindering the
enjoyment of other rights.

���� c.���� The Legislature further
finds and declares that the principles espoused in this resolution shall serve
in perpetuity to inspire and guide future laws, rules, and regulations.

���� 2.��� As used in this
resolution:

���� �Access� means the ability of
all individuals to save and exchange seeds and the right to grow, raise,
harvest, produce, and consume the food of their own choosing for their own
nourishment, sustenance, bodily health and well-being, as long as the
individual does not commit trespassing, theft, poaching, or other abuses of
private property rights, public lands, or natural resources in the harvesting,
production, or acquisition of food.

���� �Economic access to food�
means an adequate balance, without jeopardizing the satisfaction of other basic
needs, between the financial resources of an individual and the cost of food, the
means to procure food, or the means of production required in supply systems.

���� �Food availability� means the
ability of every individual to feed themselves adequately, whether directly
through work on the land, through the sustainable management of biodiversity,
water, and knowledge, or through efficient and affordable supply systems.

���� �Food sovereignty� means the
capacity of the people of New Jersey to freely establish the State�s priorities
regarding the production, supply, and access to adequate food for the entire
population, based on State production and including the choice of techniques
and technologies that are optimal for ensuring people's well-being.

���� �Healthy food� means food that
is consistent with the federal Food and Drug Association requirements for the
use of the term �healthy� in food labeling pursuant to 21 C.F.R. 101.65.

���� �Individual� means a natural
person.

���� �Local� means relating to the
State of New Jersey.

���� �Nutritional needs� means the
combination of nutrients for physical and mental growth, development and
maintenance, and physical activity that is sufficient to satisfy human
physiological needs at all stages of the life cycle, according to sex and
occupation.

���� �Person� means the same as that
term as defined in R.S.1:1-2.

���� �Physical access to food�
means the ability of every individual to have food or the means to procure food
physically within their reach.

���� �Sustainability� means
reducing the environmental impact of food production, respecting biodiversity
and ecosystems, and prioritizing locally grown food in order to enable access
to food for present and future generations.

���� �Underdeveloped community�
means a community that the Commissioner of Health determines exhibits lower
levels of economic prosperity, education, healthcare, and access to food,
compared to other communities in the State.

���� 3.��� a.� The Legislature
hereby recognizes the right to adequate food.

���� b.��� The right to adequate
food shall include, but need not be limited to:

���� (1)�� the satisfaction of
nutritional needs;

���� (2)�� food availability;

���� (3)�� physical access to food;

���� (4)�� economic access to food;

���� (5)�� the acceptability and
cultural relevance of foods, considering the non-nutrition related values
associated with food and food consumption, and the well-founded concerns of
consumers about the nature of the foods available;

���� (6)�� sustainability;

���� (7)�� food sovereignty; and

���� (8)�� access to, and the availability
and sanitation of, water for use by individuals for personal and domestic
consumption and for the production of food in a sufficient, healthy, acceptable,
and affordable manner.

���� c.���� Nothing in this section
shall be construed as providing the basis for, or subject to, a private right
of action for violations of this resolution or any other law.

���� 4.��� Every State entity is
encouraged to:

���� a.���� promote, respect, and
protect of the exercise of the right to adequate food, in accordance with the
principles of universality, interdependence, indivisibility, progressiveness,
subsidiarity, environmental sustainability, precautionary principle, social participation,
gender and age equality, the best interests of children, cultural diversity,
efficiency, free competition, transparency, and accountability; and

���� b.��� prioritize of the needs of
underdeveloped communities, including the ability of underdeveloped communities
to grow food.

���� 5.��� a.� Every State, county,
and municipal entity is encouraged to:

���� (1)�� take all necessary
affirmative and compensatory actions to promote, respect, and protect the
exercise of the right to adequate food;

���� (2)�� coordinate and
collaborate with other State, county, and municipal entities as necessary to
implement the right to adequate food; and

���� (3)�� coordinate and
collaborate with private persons and entities as necessary to implement the
right to adequate food.

���� b.��� Every State, county, and
municipal entity is encouraged to coordinate with the Department of Agriculture
to:

���� (1)�� prioritize policies and
programs that:

���� (a)�� help New Jersey farmers
better access the commercial food market in this State;

���� (b)�� help New Jersey farmers
make farming a sustainable lifestyle; and

���� (c)�� contribute to growing
the number of new farmers in the State;

���� (2)�� when purchasing food,
prioritize the purchase of food from New Jersey farms;

���� (3)�� when implementing
policies or making policy decisions, consider the implications to farmers; and

���� (4)�� promote farmland
preservation and utilization

���� 6.��� The Department of Health
may promote initiatives for the establishment and proper operation of food
banks, licensed pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1982, c.178 (C.24:4A-4), and soup
kitchens for the purpose of ensuring access to adequate food, free of charge or
at affordable prices and in locations determined by the Commissioner of Health
to be broadly physically accessible to individuals.

���� 7.��� a.� The Department of
Agriculture may promote the importance of sustainable food production
practices.

���� b.��� The Department of
Agriculture may coordinate, with such other State, county, municipal, and
private entities as the Secretary of Agriculture determines necessary,
regarding the equitable access of small-scale and medium-scale food producers,
including family farms, to the commercial food market.

���� 8.��� This joint resolution
shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This joint resolution
recognizes the right to adequate food.� The right to adequate food includes,
but is not limited to:

���� (1)�� the satisfaction of
nutritional needs;

���� (2)�� food availability;

���� (3)�� physical access to food;

���� (4)�� economic access to food;

���� (5)�� the acceptability and
cultural relevance of foods, considering the non-nutrition related values
associated with food and food consumption, and the well-founded concerns of
consumers about the nature of the foods available;

���� (6)�� sustainability;

���� (7)�� food sovereignty; and

���� (8)�� access to, and the
availability and sanitation of, water for use by individuals for personal and
domestic consumption and for the production of food in a sufficient, healthy,
acceptable, and affordable manner.

���� Pursuant to the joint
resolution, the right to adequate food is not to be construed as providing the
basis for, or subject to, a private right of action for violations of the
resolution or any other law.

���� The joint resolution also
encourages State, county, and municipal entities to take certain action.� In
particular, the joint resolution encourages State entities to:

���� (1)�� promote, respect, and
protect the exercise of the right to adequate food, in accordance with the
principles of universality, interdependence, indivisibility, progressiveness,
subsidiarity, environmental sustainability, precautionary principle, social participation,
gender and age equality, the best interests of children, cultural diversity,
efficiency, free competition, transparency, and accountability; and

���� (2)�� prioritize the needs of
underdeveloped communities, including the ability of underdeveloped communities
to grow food.

���� Under the joint resolution,
every State, county, and municipal entity is encouraged to coordinate with the
Department of Agriculture to prioritize policies and programs that:

���� (1)�� help New Jersey farmers
better access the commercial food market in this State;

���� (2)�� help New Jersey farmers
make farming a sustainable lifestyle; and

���� (3)�� contribute to growing
the number of new farmers in the State;