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The Right to Food and the Essential Promotion of Personal Autonomy: The ‘How’ Matters

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Ethics of Charitable Food

Abstract

Given the EU’s current campaign to reduce food waste, the redistribution of unsaleable food via food charities is reaching a level that was unknown barely a decade ago. While acknowledging that gestures of compassion and solidarity are a feature of every society, this chapter looks at food redistribution from the perspective of human rights. The human right to food is not, according to the United Nations, a right to be fed, but a right to feed oneself in a regular and autonomous way, in accordance with personal needs and choices. Recognising and implementing this right implies removing those obstacles that hinder people’s access to the food they need. In the wealthier regions of the world such as the European Union, where 180 kg of food per person are wasted every year, it is incomprehensible that a quarter of the population live under the minimum income threshold. Many factors explain the paradox behind the EU statistics relating to food waste and food deprivation; what is inexplicable is the inaction and the lack of commitment demonstrated by institutions that claim to “have benefited citizens by working for peace and prosperity”. EU food is supposed to meet some of the world’s highest quality standards, but many Europeans simply do not have the purchasing power necessary to enjoy that food.

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Acknowledgements

This research was developed as part of the multidisciplinary group URBAN ELIKA – Studies on Food and Society (Universidad del País Vasco/EHU) and the Basque University System Research Group on Multilevel Governance (Principal Investigator: Alberto López Basaguren).

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  1. Constitutional Law, and Law and Ethics in the Biosciences, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Bilbao, Spain

    Leire Escajedo San-Epifanio

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  1. Leire Escajedo San-Epifanio
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Correspondence to Leire Escajedo San-Epifanio .

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  1. Constitutional Law, and Law and Ethics in the Biosciences, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Bilbao, Spain

    Leire Escajedo San-Epifanio

  2. Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Bilbao, Spain

    Esther M. Rebato Ochoa

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San-Epifanio, L.E. (2022). The Right to Food and the Essential Promotion of Personal Autonomy: The ‘How’ Matters. In: Escajedo San-Epifanio, L., Rebato Ochoa, E.M. (eds) Ethics of Charitable Food. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-93600-6_5

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