Hilal Elver, UN expert on food, has recently revealed that junk food is now a human rights concern. She claims that everyone has the right to proper nutrition. However, Elver also reveals at the same time, that poor people can seemingly afford those foods which are poor in nutrient content having them to choose between economic practicality and nutrient.
The UN expert slams the introduction of industrial food production and trade markets that enables large companies to bombard the people with cheap but nutrient-poor kinds of food. In one of her press release statement, Daily Mail reports that in order to regulate the food industry within the human rights frameworks, states must be obliged to make sure the effectiveness of these measures and as well as to ensure that nutrition policymaking spaces are made free from private sectors and their influence. Rather, it is just but vital to implement a comprehensive set of policies that will be able to fight the rise of malnutrition in all its forms.
Furthermore, according to CBS News, Elver said that while there are currently 800 million people living in hunger across the world, it was found that more than 2 billion people also suffer from micronutrient deficiency while 600 million people are considered as obese. Thus, the data shows that nearly half of the world's population could possibly be considered as people without access to adequate food.
The assertive marketing strategies of promoting junk food consumption to children are what concerns Elver in particular. Reports say that Elver is now on the move in calling out various governments and organizations to move away from industrial food systems and embrace more sustainable systems that involve ecological balance.
As Elver suggests, the first step towards ending the stigma is through acknowledging nutrition as an essential component of the human right to adequate food that is reinforced by monitoring accountability and transparency.
