UN hunger expert: US must recognize ‘right to food’ to fix broken system

Some states have implemented free school meals, and Maine has a constitutional amendment to guarantee the unalienable right to food'

The US must acknowledge the right to food in order to transform its broken food system in the post-pandemic era and make it more resilient in the face of the climate crisis and biodiversity loss, according to a United Nations hunger expert.

Whether we're talking about right to food, food justice or food sovereignty, there has been growing momentum over the last 10 years to understand that food is not just something we just leave to be determined by what is available or by corporations or the status quo," said Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food.