The Right to Food in Canada

Answer

The Right to Food in Canada

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), an organ of the United Nations, approximates that 842 million people are undernourished globally. This number is 12% of the world’s population. Close to two billion people suffer from conditions arising out of lack of essential minerals and vitamins in the foods they consume (De Schutter, 2014). A majority of individuals suffering from hunger and malnutrition are the low-income earners especially women and other vulnerable populations. Ninety percent of deaths from hunger arise from chronic and long-term lack of access to food items. In Canada, the issue of lack of food is more profound as one in every eight Canadians struggle every day to get food. Close to 400,000 individuals in Ontario have confessed to using a food bank in a single month while a majority (62%) of children residing in the northern parts of Canada have experienced food insecurity (Food Secure Canada, 2017). The elimination of deaths from hunger and malnutrition is not only a moral duty but also a legal responsibility enshrined in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Various local and international legal instruments classify the right to be free from hunger as a fundamental right. The Individual States have critical roles in combating hunger. The right to food has very many aspects, intertwined with other human rights, and associated with issues of poverty and unemployment. This paper provides a discussion of the various issues surrounding the right to food in Canada.

Key Arguments

Various scholars have put forward different arguments on the extent of the right to food and the degree to which the government of Canada has deployed measures to ensure the realization of this right. The following are the key arguments, which have been synthesized from the various studies conducted on hunger in Canada and the right to food.

The Right to Food

Some people consider the right to food as only a right to a minimum number of food components such as calories, proteins, and other nutrients each day. However, according to De Schutter (2014), it refers to the right of all individuals to have not only all necessary nutritional elements required for healthy and active lives but also the means to access such food items. According to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the right to adequate nutrition can only be realized when every individual in the society, either individually or in cooperation with others in the community, have both real and economic access to food (Riches, 2011). The United Nations Special Rapporteur on The Right to Food adds that the right to food extends to the regular, permanent, and free access to financial purchase (De Schutter, 2014). Various elements exist on the right to food. One of those is that the food must be not only available but also accessible and adequate. The aspect of availability means that food should be available from natural resources and obtainable for sale in both markets and shops. Accessibility, on the other hand, depicts both economic and physical access to the food items (Cwp-csp.ca., 2017). Lastly, the available food should satisfy the dietary needs of the different demographics of a country’s population. The state of Canada has a responsibility to ensure that this right is enforced.

The Obligation of the State

States who are signatories to internal laws have a primary responsibility of not only protecting but also promoting such rights. Notably, Riches (2011) state that international human rights treaties have the same effect as the local laws and states cannot derogate from their provisions. Canada has three key obligations. These are the duty to respect the right, protect it, and fulfill its requirements. The requirement to respect requires the Canadian government to have respect to the existing means of accessing and obtaining food (Food Secure Canada, 2017). On the necessity of protection, States ought to protect the peaceful enjoyment of individuals’ right to food from any violations and breaches by third parties (Cwp-csp.ca., 2017). The obligation to fulfill requires that a state should either satisfy the right or facilitate its fulfillment. The right of food cannot be achieved immediately but rather progressively. As such, a State has the obligation under article 2(1) of the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to take various steps achieve the full realization of the right to food. However, in the immediate, according to De Schutter (2014), the state ought to use measures to prohibit and eliminate any form of discrimination in the access to food. Additionally, the state should immediately take steps to protect the minimum essential levels of the right to food. However, the right to food is linked with other fundamental human rights.

Link between the Right to Food and Other Human Rights

All basic human rights have elements of interdependence, indivisibility, and interrelations. As such, Riches (2011) asserts that the violation of one of the fundamental human rights results in the impairment of peaceful enjoyment of other interrelated rights. Specifically, the right to food is connected with the right to life, health, and education. The inalienable right to life can be guaranteed when, among other things; people have nutritious foods, and do not face the risks of hunger and malnutrition as well as their resulting conditions. The aspect of nutrition is of both the rights to food and right to health. Notably, De Schutter (2014) state that when individuals have nutritious foods, their health is improved and vice versa. Healthy and nutritious foods have the effects of stimulating and promoting the learning abilities of children while malnutrition and hunger impair those abilities. As a result, access to adequate nutrition is a prerequisite for the enjoyment of the right to education. Moreover, according to Margulis (2013), the connection between food rights and decent housing is that a high cost of accommodation results in a reduction in the food bills and the consumption of non-nutritious food items. Infringing on the right to food is tantamount to breaching other related universal rights.

Right to Food and Poverty

The accessibility of food items is based on the income of individuals in the society. Different social classes of people have varied purchasing powers. In the view of Riches (2011), those in the high classes have the ability to financially access and obtain nutritious food items. However, those in the low-income areas cannot afford the costs of food. Poverty is a lack of the core number of possessions needed for the enjoyment of individual rights. Poor people cannot realize the element of accessibility as they also have other obligations. They are likely to have a poor health arising from the types of foods, which they take (De Schutter, 2014). They cannot afford nutritious foods, and their children suffer from not only hunger but also malnutrition. The number of low-income people in northern Canada is very huge translating to the low food access levels in such an area and impairing the abilities of the residents to enjoy the right to food. Various elements are responsible for the level of poverty including social inequalities and lack of jobs (Margulis, 2013). Those who can enjoy the rights on food are only those who can financially and physically access nutritious foods. Low levels of poverty have been seen to contribute to more enjoyment and fulfillment of the fundamental rights. However, high poverty levels make the right to food access to be unfulfilled.

Right to Food and Employment

The rate of employment has a definite correlation with the number of people who have accessibility to food items. According to Riches (2011), most of the people who experience food insecurity are the unemployed who do not have a source of income, which will enable them to access nutritious foods (Margulis, 2013). Unemployment is associated with poverty, as individuals do not have a particular source of income. Employment, whether in the public sector or self, is a prerequisite for access not only to a minimum level of food items but also food with the necessary nutritional elements. The rate of employment in Canada has a particular and profound correlation with access to food and thereby the enjoyment of the right to food. As such, De Schutter (2014) holds that the right to employment and the right to food are interrelated in that one is a prerequisite for the other. In the flip side, individuals cannot enjoy their right to employment if they cannot access nutritious foods, which will provide them with the energy to continue undertaking their duties (Riches & Silvasti, 2014). As such, employment as a source of income is critical for the fulfillment of the right to food for all Canadians.

Critical Questions

Despite various scholarly articles supporting the different aspects of the right to food, numerous issues have been raised. One of those related to the extent of the role of the Canadian government in ensuring that the right to food is actualized (Riches, 2011). The second question related to the roles that the international community has played in the realization of the fundamental right for the Canadians. Finally, the functions of the media and intergovernmental organizations have been criticized as insufficient.

The Canadian Government

As stipulated in the previous paragraphs, the Canadian government has an obligation to respect, protect, and fulfill the right to food as envisaged by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. There exists a common understanding that the right to food must be countenanced by the right to be fed (Cwp-csp.ca., 2017). As part of ensuring the right to life and the protection of the dignity of the citizens, the Canadian government has an obligation to provide good and accessible food items to its populations. However, when the head of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, visited Canada 2012, he established that Canada was in breach of her international human rights obligations (De Schutter, 2014). The findings were based on the meeting between the head, Olivier De Schutter, different government officials, people with food insecurity especially in the North, social justice, and other community organizations. Despite Canada being one of the wealthiest countries in the world, her indigenous people continue to experience food challenges. According to Griffey (2011), the questions that arise is why the Canadian government has failed to put measures meant to ensure food accessibility. Additionally, the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food wondered why the social protection system had been made discriminatory and without considering the needs of the Canadian people experiencing food insecurity.

The International Community

Article 2 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, States are obligated to take various steps meant to realize the rights of its citizens including the seeking of international assistance and cooperation (Riches, 2011). As such, the international community has a critical role to play in helping nations, engulfed by hunger and malnutrition. The crucial role of the international community is reflected in articles 1(3), 55 and 56, the Convention on the Rights of the Child in articles 4, 24, and 27 as well as Universal Declaration of Human Rights under articles 22 and 28 (Griffey, 2011). The obligations of the international community in cooperating with nations having food shortage are also enshrined in the provisions of the Rome Declaration of the World Food Summit. These rules state that international bodies such as FAO should provide the necessary assistance and cooperate with individual States in addressing various obstacles impairing the right to food; however, most of the actors in the international community have paid leap service to this obligation. Although they have focused on the state of hunger in Canada, they have failed to take measures to ensure that the same is addressed (Riches & Silvasti, 2014). As such, questions arise as to the willingness of the international community to come out and offer assistance to nations having food shortages and helping them realize their right to adequate nutrition.

Media

Apart from States and the international community, the media has a central role to play in the realization of the right to food. The media has put concerted efforts in highlighting the major areas affected by hunger and food insecurity in Canada. Margulis (2013) states that some international press challenges such as CNN and Aljazeera have run documentaries, which shows how food shortage has affected people in the northern parts of Canada. However, apart from highlighting the problems, the media has not gone to an extra mile to provide solutions for those food shortage problems. Additionally, they have not followed up to ensure that the food issues they espouse are addressed (Holt Giménez & Shattuck, 2011). The fundamental question, in this case, is how the media can not only just play the role of highlighting food shortages and malnutrition problems but also get involved in proactively providing solutions to such problems.

In conclusion, the right to food in Canada is linked to other human rights and other social aspects. The right to food is defined on the premises of accessibility, availability, and adequacy. The state of Canada has the primary obligation of respecting, protecting and fulfilling the right to adequate food. Additionally, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights mandates the international community to cooperate and assist countries in achieving full realization of their fundamental rights. The right to food is linked to the right to life, health, and education. Without food, a healthy lifestyle cannot be realized. Additionally, poverty and unemployment are associated with the right to food as individuals with low incomes cannot access and obtain nutritious foods. Despite the legal and ethical obligations of the State of Canada, international community, and media in focusing on the problems of food shortage in northern Canada, they have not managed to eradicate food insecurity.