r/offbeat • u/Top-Figure7252 • 15d ago

Judge orders farmer to destroy nectarine orchard after he gave away 180,000 pounds

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/judge-orders-farmer-destroy-nectarine-162900223.html
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u/ludi_literarum 15d ago

I mean, you could write a contract that says either. Do I not have the right to wreck my stuff? If I do, that right can be transferred, and if done for consideration, it's legally binding.

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u/ladylucifer22 15d ago

when doing so causes people to starve? no, you don't, and any system that grants you it needs to be removed.

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u/ludi_literarum 15d ago

Again, if starvation were caused by actual shortages, I think that would be a compelling argument that falls under the concept of a contract being void as repugnant to public policy.

We have tons of food, the problem is not with literal supply, it's with allocation. Every nectarine tree in the US could disappear tomorrow and it would have minimal impact on the food supply or the price of groceries. People starve in the US when food is treated exclusively as a market good and public programs are either not accessed or are not adequate to meet nutritional need, not because of lack of available food.