The Right to Nutritious, Safe Food, A Diet
Which Will Sustain a Dignified Life.
Why are consumers increasingly fearful about the quality and safety of their food? … Consumers' responsibility calls for a conversion to an attentive attitude about how their food consumption choices can affect farmers, farmworkers, the poor and corporate policies and practices. …These problems are not just rural or domestic. They touch the lives of consumers as well as farmers, inner-city and suburban residents as well as rural communities. These problems certainly raise technical and political questions, but they raise moral questions as well.
United States Catholic Bishops, "Food Policy in a Hungry World: The Links That Bind Us Together" November 8, 1989
Human Dignity--The Right to Food
Increasingly our food system is providing high subsidies for large food producers, processors and retailers while the quality of food deteriorates. Our food is irradiated, genetically engineered, doctored by taste "experts" and reduced in nutritional quality. Hunger is growing nationally and internationally, especially in agricultural regions. (N.Y.Times, December 8, 2002: "Pastoral Poverty") Obesity has become a global epidemic. Nutritionists tell us that dietary guidelines are defined more by food companies' interests in sales than by standards which would promote good health and nutrition. (See Food Politics, Marion Nestle, 2002)
Each of us is created in the image and likeness of God. The human person is sacred and is the clearest reflection of God among us. Our human dignity comes from God, not from nationality, race, sex, economic status, or any human accomplishment. The fundamental principle of respect for the dignity of the human person is at the core of Catholic social teaching. It is central to the Church's teaching on human dignity that everyone has a legitimate claim to the goods and services required to live a truly human life. This central element underpins a set of specific personal rights which constitute the baseline against which we assess society's ability to secure them. The right to a truly human life implies the right to a diet that will sustain that kind of life. This means people need the amount and quality of food required for normal physical and human activity and development, not just for survival.
United States Catholic Bishops,
Report of the Ad Hoc Task Force on Food, Agriculture, and Rural Concerns, November 18, 1988
The right to safe, nutritious food includes the right to ask questions about our food system. The Catholic bishops have asked: How do our food and agricultural policies enhance or diminish the life, dignity and rights of the human person? What is their impact on human life, hungry people, farm families, and the land that sustains us? … We fear that the global food system often seems adrift without a moral compass. (see Food Policy in a Hungry World p.8)
The right to food is guaranteed by international law. The right to food includes a right to safe, healthy, nutritional food and a system which will protect health. We need to support a sustainable food system which does not distort food quality and safety provisions. Eating is a moral act, our food should be good to eat!
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