The Right to Food in the UK

The right to food and nutrition (RtFN) is a human right, but the high – and growing – levels of household food insecurity in the UK are in violation of this right, even though the UK Government has signed and ratified international instruments to protect, respect and fulfill the right to food and nutrition. Without incorporating the RtFN into domestic law so that it is justiciable, there are limited democratic mechanisms to challenge policies that cause persistent and worsening household food insecurity. Given the scale of the growing poverty crisis, it is now essential to incorporate the RtFN into domestic law to guarantee social protection for anyone living in the country, and to better understand and remove the structural root causes of poverty and associated hunger.