What is the Right to Food?

 

“The right to adequate food is realized when every man, woman and child alone or in community with others, have physical and economic access at all times to adequate food of means for its procurement.” It is “indivisibly linked to the inherent dignity of the human person.”

It is different from food security. Food security is a precondition for the full enjoyment of the Right to Food, but food security is not a legal concept and does not impose legal obligations.

 

West Virginia

State Resolution: HJR 12

Right to food, food sovereignty and freedom from hunger.

The combination of the COVID-19 Crisis and the already dire food insecurity issue in the state revealed a systemic problem that needed addressed. In November of 2020 Delegate Danielle Walker announced that she will be introducing a Right to Food resolution for the State of West Virginia. The former resolution, HJR 30, was introduced in March of 2021, but never made it out of committee hearings. In the 2023 legislative session, Delegate Walker has continued to fight for food sovereignty in the state by introducing the amendment again as HJR 12.

Municipal Resolution

Morgantown, WV became the first city in the state to secure the Right to Food for its residents in the passing of a Municipal Resolution. This resolution enshrines that all residents have access to healthy and affordable food as well as recognizing the individuals human right to food. For the full municipal resolution click here.

National and International Right to Food