PRF - The right to food: Progress and pitfalls

Narula, Smita

doi:10.15353/cfs-rcea.v2i2.130

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

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“…It is valuable to reflect on the real need for additional supports for ratified international agreements and recall Narula’s words cited at the beginning of this paper that refer to the difficulty, “wherein top-down processes can effectively navigate entrenched power dynamics ( 18 ) … the State and its ruling elite are not neutral agents of social change.” To the contrary, State actors and domestic elites often stand to benefit from rights-violating policies and practices [see also Ref. ( 7 , 19 )]. As we have seen, situating too much power in the hands of the State limits the capacity of individuals and grassroots organizations to insert themselves and effect transformation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Power Imbalances, Food Insecurity, and Children’s Rights in Canada

Blay-Palmer

2016

Front. Public Health

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Increasingly, food is provided through an industrial food system that separates people from the source of their food and results in high rates of food insecurity, particularly for the most vulnerable in society. A lack of food is a symptom of a lack of power in a system that privileges free market principles over social justice and the protection of human rights. In Canada, the high rates of food insecurity among Canadian children is a reflection of their lack of power and the disregard of their human rights, despite the adoption of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991 and ratification of the International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights in 1976, which established the right to food for all Canadians. Dueling tensions between human rights and market forces underpin this unacceptable state of affairs in Canada. Gaventa’s “power cube” that describes different facets of power – including spaces, levels, and forms – is used to help understand the power imbalances that underlie this injustice. The analysis considers the impact of neoliberal free market principles on the realization of human rights, and the negative impacts this can have on health and well-being for the most vulnerable in society. Canadian case studies from both community organizations provide examples of how power can be shifted to achieve more inclusive, rights-based policy and action. Given increased global pressures toward more open trade markets and national austerity measures that hollow out social supports, Canada provides a cautionary tale for countries in the EU and the US, and for overall approaches to protect the most vulnerable in society.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To the contrary, State actors and domestic elites often stand to benefit from rights-violating policies and practices [see Ref. ( 7 , 19 )].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%