More details [link:https://www.un.org/press/en/2021/gashc4336.doc.htm|
"In other action, the Committee approved a draft on the right to food by a recorded vote of 180 in favour to 2 against (Israel, United States), with 0 abstentions, expressing alarm that in 2020, the number of people lacking access to adequate food rose by 320 million ‑ to 2.4 billion ‑ amounting to nearly a third of the world’s population, and that between 720 million and 811 million people faced hunger.
“Hunger is a violation of human dignity”, Cuba’s delegate asserted. Presenting the draft, he voiced concern that the United States has blocked consensus on the text for four years. The United States representative — highlighting conditions in the Lake Chad Basin, Yemen and Somalia ‑ said the draft contains unbalanced and inaccurate positions that her delegation simply cannot support. The concept of food sovereignty could justify food protectionism, negatively impacting food security, she explained, adding that the United States does not recognize the right to food, as it lacks a definition in international law."
-- One of the earlier justifications was that it might prevent the use of sanctions against countries like Iran and Russia.
Not sure how I can reconcile the preference to use sanctions to change political behavior against the idea that food is a right. This us far more complicated than it looks. Is food a right of every person -- yes. How do you define that in a world with all sorts of despots who respond to things like sanctions?
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