This document discusses several international agreements regarding the human right to adequate food and nutrition. It mentions Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which recognizes everyone's right to an adequate standard of living including food. It also discusses Articles 11(1) and 11(2) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which guarantee the right to adequate food, clothing, and housing. Finally, it provides definitions of the right to food from the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food and General Comment 12 of the ICESCR.

1. The Human Rights Dimension
John Corey
Human Rights Commission

2. Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights (1948)
Everyone has the right to a standard of living
adequate for the health and well-being of
himself and his family, including food.

3. Article 25 of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights (1948)
Everyone has the right to a standard of
living adequate for the health and well-
being of himself and his family,
including food.

4. UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(1966)
• Article 11(1) recognises the right of everyone to an adequate
standard of living, including adequate food, clothing and housing,
and to the continuous improvement of living conditions.
• Article 11(2) guarantees the fundamental right of everyone to be
free from hunger, and obliges State Parties to take steps in this
regard, including the improvement of methods of distribution of
food, and dissemination of knowledge concerning the principles
of nutrition.

5. General ICESCR is General Comment 12
“every man, woman and child, alone or in
community with others, has physical and economic
access at all times to adequate food or means for
its procurement.”

6. UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food has defined the right to
food as:
“the right to have regular, permanent and free access, either directly
or by means of financial purchases, to quantitatively and
qualitatively adequate and sufficient food corresponding to the
cultural traditions of the people to which the consumer belongs, and
which ensures a physical and mental, individual and
collective, fulfilling and dignified life free of fear.”