The Right to Food: A Global Imperative
The Right to Food: A Global Imperative
This Blog was originally posted on the platform of the Social Gastronomy Movement on the occasion of World Food Day on 16th October 2024
The latest edition of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) 2024 report paints a grim picture. The report estimates that around 821 million people across the globe were affected by chronic hunger in 2023. While this number represents a slight decrease from the previous year, it's important to note that this follows a significant increase during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here it is crucial to bear in mind that the vast majority of these hungry people are people of color, including when those suffering from hunger and food insecurity reside in the global north.
Despite the staggering number of people affected by hunger, those 821 million people rarely make the news. The food systems and supply chains we have developed do not provide them with adequate food, and the media and news outlets we have do not transmit their voices. For the most part, their stories and their suffering passes many of us unnoticed.
In 2022 a global citizen advocacy campaign staged quite an illustrative action. During a Global Food Security Summit, held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the campaign filled the lawn across the headquarters of the United Nations with a thousand empty plates. Symbolically, while the plates were empty of food, they contained written messages shared by the hungry of the world.
One message shared by Aenie from Ghana says “I know what it feels like to be hungry and I do not think anyone deserves to feel that, ever.”
In the summit, roadmaps were agreed and promises made. But two years later we do not see genuine progress or much meaningful action. Unfortunately, most governments continue business as usual. Expanding markets and exploiting resources seeking more corporate profits, and a mere rhetorical engagement in tackling climate change and poverty - two leading factors of food insecurity on our planet. We live in times where food insecurity is even intentionally created. Governments implementing sanctions on whole populations to further strategic and economic interests. Food being weaponized by states against entire populations. And starvation being intentionally used as a tool to commit genocide.
It's important to remind ourselves once more that food is a human right, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The promise to every person on our planet access to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food to meet their dietary needs. The Right to Food is so fundamental it is inseparable from the Right to Health and the Right to Life. And it is inseparable from the UDHR’s assertion that all people, no matter the color of their skin, are free and equal.
And although we live at a historical moment where International Law and the UN Charter are at a breaking point, it is all the more crucial to stress the notion of “rights” as a moral imperative. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was a step forward in the moral evolution of our species, ought to be the reference point to come back to again and again.
Grassroot Engagement and International Solidarity is where hope lies
The picture is not all grim though. Not reaching the news as well is an incredible amount of human endeavor and energy geared towards facing up to the occasion and tackling the global food crisis. Very often I meet incredible people who are engaging with so much passion, creativity and commitment. They create programs and initiatives for food assistance and cash transfers to provide a vital safety net for vulnerable populations. They work on reducing food waste and promote healthy, sustainable food choices to conserve resources and improve access to nutritious food. They work on building resilient food systems and support small-scale farmers with resources and training for sustainable farming practices.
Indeed, there are countless examples of organizations, individuals and groups of people engaging around the world. International networks exist where Civil Society actors collaborate and support each other across borders. Showing that expressions of international solidarity are alive and kicking.
No matter how dark the overall picture at first glance, if one is on the look for some hope, a closer look at the grassroots shows an abundance of inspiration and engagement. Those examples of social engagement around the world shows us not only that another ethos is possible, it already exists. An ethos that is not based on greed and profit above all, but on the belief that there are intrinsic rights common to everyone in our human family. In the words of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk “Human rights is a force to reckon with, not because it serves the interests of the powerful, but because it has captured the imagination of the powerless”.
Khebra,