Human right to food

The human right to adequate food is a human right in international law. It is included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) (1966) as part of the right to an adequate standard of living [2].

Adequate food is food that is safe, culturally appropriate, meets dietary needs and is sustainably produced, so that food is accessible to future as well as current generations [3] [4].

The human right to food and food security

The human right to food is closely related to the agency dimension of food security. Agency is about people’s capacity to make their own decisions about what they eat or the food they produce [5].

The human right to food also emphasises choice and control. It is the right to feed oneself, rather than the right to be fed [4]. Food with dignity approaches are one way of implementing a rights-based approach to address food insecurity.

Obligations in relation to the human right to food

Countries that have ratified the ICESCR – such as Australia – have obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the right to adequate food [3].

Respect – Governments should ensure that food-related policies respect everyone’s right to food and should not introduce measures that undermine access to food.

Protect – Governments should take measures to protect people’s access to adequate food from violations by others, including private enterprises.

Fulfil – Governments should take steps to strengthen people’s access to livelihoods and resources to ensure their food security. If people cannot fulfill the right to adequate food by their own means, governments should fulfil that right by providing food assistance or social safety nets. This also applies in the event of disasters.

Some of these obligations are ‘immediate’ or short-term, particularly taking steps to ensure “freedom from hunger and malnutrition”. Other obligations can be realised progressively, but governments should take steps to fully realise the right as quickly as possible.

The right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment

The human right to food is related to other rights, including the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. This new right was recognised as an international human right by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021 and by the UN General Assembly in 2022 [6].

The right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment includes the right to healthy and sustainable food as one of six substantive elements [7]. Healthy and sustainable food is food that meets health and nutrition needs, and has low environmental impacts – it protects climate, ecosystems and biodiversity [8]. States have an obligation to progressively realise the right to healthy and sustainable food alongside the right to food [7].

The ACT became the first jurisdiction in Australia to legislate the right to healthy and sustainable food in 2024 when it amended its Human Rights Act 2004 to include the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment [9]. Legislating the right means that it can be enforced, and it will be possible for legal proceedings to be brought in the ACT in relation to breaches of this right.