The document discusses the right to food in Canada. It notes that the right to food was first recognized internationally in 1948 and that Canada has signed agreements supporting this right, though it is not enshrined in Canadian law. It provides statistics showing that in 2000/01, 3.7 million Canadians experienced food insecurity and over 40% of low-income households reported issues affording or accessing enough food. The document also examines factors contributing to increased hunger in Canada like economic restructuring, government and social responses, and international trade policies. Finally, it argues that a human rights framework could help strengthen food security.

1. Therighttofood Christopher Malpica Morales 4C3 Itzi Susano Carbajal 4C3 Andrea Mendez 4C1 Raul Rodriguez 4C1

2. The right to food was first recognized as a fundamental human right in 1948. Since then, Canada and many other OECD nations have signed several national and international agreements promoting the right to food. Canada is often viewed by other countries as a successful welfare state and a beacon of human rights. Therighttofood

3. Why the right to food? 3.7 million Canadians experienced food insecurity in 2000/01). Canadian Community Health Survey Considered food insecure if for lack of money they: Had not eaten the quality or variety of food they wanted Or, had worried about not having enough to eat Or, had actually not had enough to eat

4. More than 40% of people in low income or lower middle income households reported food insecurity. 28% of these households had not had enough to eat in the past year. Prevalence of household food insecurity, by province of territory. 840,000 dependent on charitable food banks

5. Therighttofood Although the right to food is not entrenched in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Canada 1982) and is therefore not justiciable, the Government of Canada has historically acknowledged a right to food in a number of international conventions, including the 1948 International Bill of Human Rights (United Nations 1985), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (United Nations 1966), and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations 1989).

6. Since the early 1980s evidence has been mounting that hunger and food insecurity remain critical global issues, not just in the countries of the South but also in the advanced welfare states of the North, such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Hunger and its causes in First World societies Canada and the United States conservatively suggested that at least 8–10% of the population is hungry or at risk of hunger. In Canada, 456 food banks provide food to 2.5 million Canadians a year (CAFB 1995).

7. Hunger and its causes in First World societies Since the early 1980s evidence has been mounting that hunger and food insecurity remain critical global issues, not just in the countries of the South but also in the advanced welfare states of the North, such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Canada and the United States conservatively suggested that at least 8–10% of the population is hungry or at risk of hunger. In Canada, 456 food banks provide food to 2.5 million Canadians a year (CAFB 1995).

8. Three factors explain the increase in hunger and food insecurity in Canada. Global economic restructuring (mass unemployment and underemployment, work and income polarization, etc) Second, the responses of the state and civil society to hunger have encouraged its growth. Third, in line with global structural-adjustment policies (new international trade agreements have fostered increasingly unregulated markets and granted more powers to transnational corporations)

9. A Human Rights Framework strengthens Food Security 1· Governments are legally bound to comply with obligations outlined in human rights treaties. 2· Human rights offer dignity to marginalized groups who claim rights rather than receiving charity. 3· Human rights are governed by a comprehensive monitoring system within the United Nations.