The Human Right to Food

Local Foods Connection is a non-for-profit charity. We purchase vegetables, fruits, bread, chicken, eggs and other products from small family farmers, and then we donate this food to low-income families in our community. We help farmers by paying them for the delicious, healthy food they raise, and we help low-income families by giving them fresh and nutritious food to enjoy.

 

Everyone who volunteers for Local Foods Connection believes in a set of core values. We believe that no one should go hungry in a country as wealthy as ours. We believe that everyone should have access to food that is safe to eat, healthy for our bodies, and that tastes good. We believe that the best source of healthy food is healthy farms. And we believe that everyone, including all of you here, can help in fight against hunger and poverty.

 

Our actions, such as providing low-income families with food and supporting farmers that use earth-friendly farming methods, are the expression of our belief in fundamental human rights. Human rights are those basic standards without which people cannot live in dignity. Dignity means having the resources and self-respect to live a strong, productive life.

 

The Human Right to Food is not only the theme of this essay, it can be considered the theme of Local Foods Connection's work. The Human Right to Food, as defined by the United Nations, is the right of a person to have regular and permanent access to adequate food, either directly (such as by growing it) or by means of financial purchases. The food should be compatible with the cultural traditions of the individual, and should ensure a physically and mentally dignified life free of fear.

 

In this essay, I will give you an overview of the world community's opinions about hunger and poverty and I will show you how my work promotes human rights on a local level. I will explain to you how, even in America, we need to protect the Human Right to Food, and I will give you some ideas of how you can help.

 

If you want to think globally, and act locally, you need to learn the causes hunger, understand the importance of using respect and compassion when serving the low-income, asses your values and skills to decide how you can best help, and then take action. Change begins at home, with you.

 

The first thing that you can do to help is to learn. You will become a more effective and passionate activist once you begin to understand the causes poverty and hunger. If you study the reasons people become poor and the reasons it is so hard for them to get out of poverty, you will have the knowledge needed to develop solutions.

 

So what is hunger? In essence, hunger is the most extreme form of poverty, where individuals or families cannot afford to meet their most basic need for food. bread for the world website

 

Hunger is a problem of poverty more so than a shortage of food worldwide. Studies from the United Nations show that the world already produces more than enough food to feed everyone on the planet and it has the capacity to produce even more. Finding Solutions to Hunger.

 

According to the United Nations, "Hunger is not inevitable. Nor is it acceptable. We live in a world that is richer than ever before and that is entirely capable of eradicating hunger. There is no secret as to how to eradicate hunger, there is no need for new technologies, there is simply the need for political commitment to challenge existing policies that make the rich richer and the poor poorer. It is time to fully recognize the Right to Food as a human right that deserves to be fully enforced, as much as any other human right." the right to food 27 sept 2004 by the special rapporteur on the right to food Jean Ziegler.

 

What I believe the United Nations is saying, and what I have seen in my own experience, is that most people who are hungry are also low-income, and that they are victims of unfortunate circumstances. The poor can be survivors of a war, or a natural disaster, in which they lost everything they own and knew. The poor can be victims of economic or social injustice, such as a person who is discriminated against because of his race or religion. A person can fall into poverty coping with her own medical problems or the illness of someone in her family. A person might not have received a good education, and therefore doesn't know how to take care of himself. Consequently hunger work and poverty work often go hand-in-hand.

 

Hunger looks different in different countries. Movies and television have shown us dramatic images of starving people in other countries. These people, living in poor regions of the world like in Ethiopia, Mongolia, India and Indonesia, regularly die from hunger. Every day, almost 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes throughout the world--one child every five seconds.  bread for the world website

 

In America, the poor and the hungry often go unseen or unnoticed. People here don't frequently die from hunger, instead, more often, they suffer from malnutrition and illnesses resulting from an inadequate diet. 36.3 million American people live in households that experience hunger. This means that one in every ten households in the U.S. is hungry. Finding Solutions to Hunger In Iowa, approximately 421,000 people go hungry from time to time each year. 2007 Hunger in Iowa Report

 

Chronic undernourishment and vitamin or mineral deficiencies result in stunted growth, weakness, difficulty being successful at school or work, and increase the likelihood that a person will become sick.  bread for the world website. In America, our goal is food security. Food security exists when all people, at all times, have access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.

 

 

The mission of Local Foods Connection is to help low-income families and individuals achieve food security. Our clients include single mothers, people with exceptional medical problems, immigrants, refugees and racial minorities. In addition to helping these families meet their basic need for food, we also show them respect and compassion by giving them high-quality, delicious things to eat. We at Local Foods Connection believe that some of the most nutritious food available is fresh fruits, vegetables and meats raised by farmers using earth-friendly production methods, such as growing plants without chemicals and raising animals in a humane environment. This food is mostly unprocessed, full of vitamins and minerals, and free of dangerous pesticides and fungicides. If the food is grown on a farm located near the people who are going to eat it, then it is extra fresh and tasty.

 

We hope not only to improve our client's health and diet by giving them this wholesome food, but also their self-esteem. We want the families we serve to believe, as much as we do, that they deserve to be strong and happy and to have a productive life. A person feels dignity when he is proud of himself and the life he leads. Most people find that dignity in being able to take care of themselves and their families. No matter what country they live in, almost nobody chooses to be hungry or poor. The desire to be self-sufficient is one similarity among poor people all over the world.

 

Another similarity is that poor people everywhere have less access to food and less choice in which foods they get eat. The food available to the poor is often less nutritious, less fresh, and less clean than they would like. Their water, especially in the developing world but also in countries like America, is often dirty and in short supply.

 

Another connection among the poor throughout the world is that they all have the basic right to good, safe food - as is stated in the United Nation's Human Right to Food. The UN created their report on the Human Right to Food with the same intentions that they wrote the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. And that report, which lists all the rights that every person in the world has, was influenced by the United States' Bill of Rights.

 

In the United States, we are all protected by the Bill of Rights. It gives us many freedoms, such as the freedom to choose which religion we want to practice. Americans have the right to gather peacefully to talk about issues that interest us. We have the right to publish our opinions, and to vote. The Bill of Rights was developed by the founders of the American government. It was written to create a core set of values for our country's citizens, and to help create a national identity.

 

The UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights was written to create a core set of values for the human race, and to help create a universal identity. It calls every person in the world a member of the "human family." The declaration also states that in order for there to be freedom, justice and peace all over the world, each one of us needs to recognize the inherent dignity of every other person and to respect their equal and inalienable rights.

 

Here are examples of the some of the human rights that each country agrees to uphold by being a member of the United Nations:

 

-all human beings are born free and equal in dignity

-no one shall be held in slavery or servitude

-no one shall be subjected to torture

-everyone has the right to property

 

The declaration was written by the leaders of fifty countries who wanted all the people of the world to live together peacefully and respectfully. The United States was one of the fifty members of the United Nations when this statement was written and ratified in 1948.

 

In the year 2000, the members of the United Nations decided to restate their faith in the Declaration of Human Rights and remind the world of its importance. These world leaders, in a document called the Millennium Development Goals, established deadlines for achieving specific objectives in the reduction of human rights violations.  Eradicating extreme hunger and poverty by 2015 was the first goal they established.

 

Currently over 190 countries are members of the United Nations, and the America is one of the five main countries who lead the organization. The United States should set an example for the rest of the world by promoting and protecting human rights throughout the world and within our own borders. Ensuring that all Americans have enough food to eat is probably the first, and most important, step that we need to take.

 

In 1999, a research group hired by the United States government stressed the importance of the fight against hunger in the promotion of human rights. In their report, called "The U.S. Action Plan on Food Security," they say that: "[We], and many in civil society, declare that without the right to food, the protection of other human rights becomes a mockery for those who must spend all their energy merely to maintain life itself."

 

Individual citizens, like you, can make special contributions to the collective effort of advancing a just and hunger-free America. Your unique skills and experiences are like tools that you can use in when doing human rights work. If you make a list of your abilities, values and interests, you can discover what type of work would be most effective and satisfying for you.

 

For example, are you comfortable talking to large groups of people? Are you good at arguing a point, like on a debate team? Maybe you enjoy participating in fundraising activities, like working a telethon. Are you able to organize people and assign tasks to complete group project? Do you like to study and do research? Are you skilled at writing, drawing or taking pictures?

 

The answers to these types of questions will help you realize the talents that you possess that might be valued, or needed, by groups serving low-income families and individuals.

 

Another way to figure out what type of work is good for you is to asses your values. When you learn about social problems like poverty and hunger, which facts make you feel angry or that you want to do something to help? Or, on the other hand, what type of volunteer work have you tried that makes you feel good? Taking action on issues about which you are passionate gives you extra strength and energy, and a great sense of satisfaction when you are done.

 

Because our staff and volunteers are trained to keep an open mind and to listen attentively when talking with our clients, they have a chance to be successful at our work as well. Local Foods Connection's volunteers try not to judge people or situations based on first impressions or stereotypes. So that they understand the issues we deal with, they do research, read books and magazines, and interview experts. I encourage them not to confine their actions to their job description, but instead, always think about how they can give better service to our clients. Here are some of the ways people volunteer for Local Foods Connection.

 

-Linda draws pictures and posters for the charity, and creates thank you cards.

 

-Nialle sells vegetable cookbooks to her friends and family, and donates the money to us.

 

- Kristin works in the office filing and answering phones. She also educates our clients about nutrition.

 

- Natalia translates our documents into Spanish, so that our Spanish-speaking clients can understand the information we give them.

 

Our volunteers run errands, write newsletter articles, distribute food to clients, and answer questions our clients have.

 

 

Community work is more than just giving; by helping other people, you can help yourself. The relationship between improving the lives of other people and improving your own is described in the Declaration of Human Rights as: "Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible."

 

 

Here are testimonials written by three members of one of our client families last year:

 

"Hi. I am 9 years old and we got fresh food from you guys. It was fun trying stuff that I have never heard of. My favorite was the sweet corn."

 

"Hi. I am 13 years old and we got fresh food that was very good and I got to try new things I would have never thought of trying. My fave was the green beans and sweet corn. We went to the farm where the food was growing and we loved the animals, especially the dogs. The lady was really nice. We had a lot of fun."

 

From one of the parents: "I have always been mostly a meat eater; the veggie was basically a garnish. The farmer that brought us the food was very helpful in telling me how to prepare many of the items. The change in our diet was drastic but necessary because one of my children has been diagnosed as pre-diabetic and since implementing this new diet the symptoms have all but disappeared. Beyond that there are foods now that we really would not know existed but for this experience. I could not find a negative to our experience even if I were inclined to do so, and I thank all who participate in this program!"

 

Healthy people, with healthy self-esteem, eating healthy food from healthy farms - these are the building blocks of a healthy community.  Healthy communities are the places where human rights are recognized and accepted.

 

Be the change you want to see in the world.

--Mahatma Gandhi, former political and spiritual leader of India

 

http://www.localfoodsconnection.org