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What is the Right to Food? The right to food guarantees all people the ability to feed themselves. It also obligates states to cooperate in the equitable distribution of world food supplies. As part of the more general right to an "adequate standard of living," the right to food contributes to a broader question of whether people live in basic dignity. People have a right to the basic amount of food necessary for survival, but they also have a right to food of high enough quality and quantity to live in adequate dignity. CESR Work on the Right to Food |
What are the minimum requirements?
Availability: food must be available, either directly or by access to a well-functioning distribution, processing, and marketing system that responds to demand.
Dietary Needs: food must satisfy dietary needs. A diet consists of a mix of nutrients, calories and proteins necessary for physical and mental health and growth.
No Adverse Substances: food must be free from adverse substances. This means the government must set and enforce health and safety standards for food quality.
Culturally Acceptable: food must be culturally acceptable, meaning it is necessary to take into account non-nutrient based values for judging the acceptability of food, including informing consumers.
Accessibility: food must be accessible, meaning it is (1) economically affordable and (2) physically accessible.
As with every human right, the right to food entails the following obligations:
- Respect – the obligation to respect requires governments to refrain from interfering directly or indirectly with the enjoyment of the right to food
- Protect – the obligation to protect requires governments to prevent third parties, such as corporations, from interfering in any way with the enjoyment of the right to food
- Fulfill – the obligation to fulfill requires governments to adopt the necessary measures to achieve the full realization of the right to food