Right to Food is The Human’s Basic Right

The number of the poor suffering from famine could never be decreased in the future. The one who has responsibility to this condition is the government. It also cannot be dispersed from the people’s culture accessing their food. People’s manner nowadays does not place food as important as before. Thus, both of them have their own parts which are the government violates or abandons people’s right to food and the people neglect the importance of qualified food.

Right to food is the right of every human being, including women and children, whose physical and economic access any time to obtain sufficient food as a requirement of human’s dignity. Right to food will be fulfilled if every man, woman, and child hold an overtime-access to sufficient food or its procurement methods physically and economically. Right to food is one element of human rights that consist of civic, political, economic, social, and cultural rights. It belongs to cultural rights.

According to The United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, there are three government’s obligations related to the right to food of its people: obligations to fulfill, to protect, and to respect. As a formal institution, government and all of its agencies have a big duty to make sure their people get their rights to food. When there are people suffering in hunger, government’s agencies must fulfill their needs on food, protect their accesses to food from disorders of the other parties, and respect their livelihoods to get proper food. It can use its tools of power to do those actions, such as regulations, policies, and programs.

The problem of famine can also be caused by inappropriate people’s manner on food. People are starting to be unaware on healthy and sufficient food. They begin to neglect food as primary needs recently. In this modern era, people give more concern to secondary goods, just like television, computer, or hand phone, than essential needs. Even the poor do this action for their prestige. Specifically for children, they are served by instant food because their parents are not willing to prepare enough time to healthier one. That is why there are many strange diseases massively spread out. The reason is that people do not pay attention to eating healthy food and living in a healthy life anymore. Then they will be tied up with poverty by keeping this way of life.

Right to food must be considered as the human’s basic right. In the name of human rights, people can advocate their right to food to government as a prime stakeholder when theirs are violated. To solve the cultural problem, building the people’s consciousness of the importance of food is the best solution. It needs cooperation between government and the people to conduct some related programs. Supporting this idea, right to food should be implemented comprehensively and integrated along with other human rights.

Dian Pratiwi Pribadi