Category: Food rights

In Article 25 of the Human Rights Declaration it states everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food.
In Article 11 the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recognizes the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger and the obligation of members to take measures needed by developing or reforming agrarian systems in such a way as to achieve the most efficient development and utilization of natural resources and taking into account the problems of both food-importing and food-exporting countries, to ensure an equitable distribution of world food supplies in relation to need.

Food security is achieved when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. Clean water is also to be included. Related issues are public advocacy, health assessment, early warning systems, stress and resiliency, food policy, economics of food production in relation to nutriture and program development.

Food sovereignty prioritizes local food production and consumption. It gives a country the right to protect its local producers from cheap imports and to control production. It ensures that the rights to use and manage lands, territories, water, seeds, livestock and biodiversity are in the hands of those who produce food and not of the corporate sector. Therefore the implementation of genuine agrarian reform is one of the top priorities of the farmer’s movement.