Food Security and Human Rights: An Overview

The United Nations has declared food security a human right, yet people around the world still struggle to put food on their plates. International and domestic policies alike are failing the 10.7% of people around the world who are experiencing food insecurity (World Hunger, 2016), because they are approaching feeding the world as a goal as opposed to an obligation. Food insecurity can have major repercussions, and disproportionately affects certain demographics. Factors such as climate change and poverty perpetuate food insecurity, yet very little is being done to combat these factors. This is why the global food insecurity epidemic must be addressed as a human rights problem, and the solution must go deeper than combating face-value food insecurity. The systematic reasons for food security must be undermined, and feeding humanity must be an obligation, not a goal