Vegetarian meal[/caption]Bob Ewing - The past few days I have been having a dialogue via Twitter. The focus of this discussion is food as a human right. On 10 December 1948 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the UN General Assembly.
Article 25 of the Declaration says:
• (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
The 144 character limit, set by Twitter, makes it quite difficult to conduct a coherent discussion of a complex matter. On the surface, food as a human right may seem a simple enough topic; people need food to live, so food must be a right. Before we proceed, it is important to define human rights.
Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination. These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible.
This seems straightforward enough, human rights are inherent to all human beings, and all, are equally entitled to these rights without discrimination. Okay, however, food is an economic engine that can drive local and regional economies, and as such food is a commodity that is bought and sold in the marketplace. If food was free, who would grow it, and if no one is growing it, what do we eat?
Reread the definition of a human right; the definition does not say that rights are free, that they come without cost. It says they are inherent to all human beings and cannot be denied through discrimination.
However, in countries around the globe, North America as well, people are denied access to food on a daily basis, because they do not have the funds to purchase it in the market place. Is this a structural error, one that can be offset through policy, practice, and procedure? Can food be both a commodity and a right? Have countries failed to take the appropriate actions?
The answer to the first two questions is yes and over the next few weeks I will examine how this can be done and how a sustainable economy can be evolved while doing so. The third question will be addressed at the end of the series.
Both Twitter and Facebook are playing a growing role in my work and will continue to do so as I develop this series.
