White House hunger summit failed to extend 'right to food', says UN expert

Last week's White House Hunger Conference was a step in the right direction but missed an opportunity to address systemic causes and expand the "right to food," says a United Nations hunger expert.

Policymakers should focus on these causes if they are to solve the problem of hunger, said said Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food. Racism, corporate control and poverty are major contributors to hunger, he said.

"They don't talk about the [roots of the] problem," said Fakhri, also an academic. of the Oregon law professor. "Structural inequality is the underlying cause of hunger."

Legislators and experts gathered at the White House conference last week to consider policies that would reduce hunger and encourage healthy eating. A national strategy released by Joe Biden focused on five "pillars": food access and affordability, nutrition, food education, exercise, and research.

At least one in 10 American households lack consistent access to food, the White House noted, and health problems related to unhealthy diets – obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure, for example – have dramatically increased in recent years.

Fakhri and others have argued for a "right to food" that would codify access to healthy options. That right, Fakhri said, could be adopted by jurisdictions as local as a university or by Congress.

Last year, voters in Maine approved a constitutional amendment that guarantees a “natural, inherent, and inalienable right” to food – the first state to do so. Bipartisan cooperation in this state has shown that even a body as politically polarized as Congress can enact a right to food. food, Fakhri said.

“People have realized that the only way to create a fair food system is if we find a way to share resources and work together” , he said, "The success of Maine is that it shows people that the right to food can create new political discussions that can circumvent the impasse of the American political system."

< p class="dcr-1vtk2mf">Maine legislation emphasizes the notion that people have the dr be able to produce food locally without interference as long as they do so legally. Critics say it could increase food safety, animal welfare and environmental issues, while proponents say it strengthens communities and reduces corporate domination.

< p class="dcr-1vtk2mf">The concept has gained momentum in the United States. and abroad. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has made access to food a major goal, while Scotland and Brazil have recently made progress towards a right to food. Morgantown, West Virginia, also passed a right to food resolution last year, and the states of Illinois and Florida guaranteed the right to garden on private property.

Congress should keep an eye on these state and local reforms, Fakhri said. The right to food, he noted, comes in different forms, most of which would combat hunger.

“Any jurisdiction could decide what the right to food means for his community,” he said. “Time and time again, the problem is governments that don't listen to their people. The people speak, the people organize, the people mobilize. The challenge now is for governments to listen to their people. dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement" class="dcr-1mfia18"/>

State action in particular would help push Congress to pass a national right to food, a said Noreen Springstead, executive director of WhyHunger, a non-profit organization that campaigns for access to healthy food.The federal government has failed to protect basic human rights by largely ignoring...