Food Soverignity and the Right to Food

The chapter focuses on the concepts of the right to food and food sovereignty. Firstly, the dual nature of food is analyzed. It is argued that the philosophical/legal dimension of the right to food shows how the recognition of the right to food goes through the birth of genuine(positive and negative) obligations of the States, which must take appropriate steps in order to ensure the enjoyment of this right. However the constitutionalization of the right to food does not seem capable per se of granting its effectiveness. Secondly, the focus is on the role played by courts in dealing with the problem of the justiciability of this right. The aim of the present chapter is to demonstrate that the effectiveness of the right to food is strictly dependent on the adoption of appropriate public policies capable of ensuring conditions of transparency and information, giving individuals and groups the possibility to participate in the decision-making process and identifying the legal basis for their claim.