Food systems should be controlled by the people
- Photini Kamvisseli Saurez
- Aug 11
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 9
August 11, 2025
Being able to choose the type, quality, and quantity of food we eat is a central part of living with dignity, and of enjoying the right to food. This means having the ability to secure, prepare, and consume the food of our choice, which meets our nutritional, social, and cultural needs as we define them. It means living in places with real food choices - busy farmers markets, independent food businesses that reflect the diversity of our local communities, and grocery stores that carry a variety of affordable and healthy options. It means having access to land and natural resources that enable those of us who want to grow, harvest, and produce food for ourselves, our families, and our communities - sustainably, and with respect for future generations - to do so without excessive barriers or discrimination. And it means that communities most affected by food injustice should lead, shape, and drive policies that meet their needs.
Instead, our food system in the United States is designed to support large-scale, industrial agriculture and food production, at the expense of our health, communities, local economies, and the planet. The primary way most people access food is through increasingly concentrated grocery chains that have largely displaced independent retailers and local markets. Corporate influence and lobbying dominate policymaking, and federal subsidies incentivize commodity foods, animal feed, and biofuels through extractive practices. Industrial-scale food waste contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, and poor quality excess food is redirected through the charitable sector, meeting neither the needs of the planet nor the nutritional, social, and cultural needs of our people.
Internationally, strong concerns have been raised about the influence of large agri-food businesses and multi-national corporations over food systems decision-making. The UN Food Systems Summit Stocktake (UNFSS+4) that took place in Addis Ababa in July was recently criticized for its continued failure to uphold a rights-based approach grounded in transparency, meaningful participation, and accountability. We need real commitments to rights-based food systems governance at all levels.
Food systems should be designed to benefit people and the planet, not to produce profits for a few corporations. People who grow, harvest, produce, distribute, prepare, and serve food every day deserve to be meaningfully involved in re-designing, building and supporting food systems that respect and protect our right to food, now and in the future.
New briefing report
Today we are launching a new briefing report - Food systems should be controlled by the people - as part of our “Right to Food in the United States” series. In it, we briefly explore the current situation and set out recommendations for change that were co-created with members of our Community of Practice.
Our recommendations include:
Reverse Citizens United, regulate corporate influence over research, and require increased transparency of corporate campaign donations and lobbying.
Strengthen and apply anti-trust laws to agricultural and food industries, including land acquisition.
Invest in community-driven models, e.g. community-supported agriculture (CSAs); community food stores, cooperative supermarkets and food hubs; and cooperative land ownership.
Support and facilitate the development of diverse community food systems and local governance structures.
Provide pathways for food policy councils to grow and flourish at local levels.
Support and fund partnerships between communities and research institutes to ensure participatory action research centers the needs of communities.
Next steps
Our “Right to Food in the United States” briefings are designed to be used by advocates and organizations working to advance the right to food at all levels - in towns, cities, and states across the country. Previous briefing reports include:
We encourage you to read and share these briefings widely, and to contact us with any questions or ideas for how to use them in your own work.
For more detail on corporate capture of the food system in the U.S., see our recent blog post.
Visit our website to find out how you can get involved with our work.
This post is part of a “Right to Food in the United States” series, where we are launching a set of briefing reports that explore the progress the United States has made in advancing the right to food since 2020, when we underwent the most recent Universal Periodic Review (UPR) by the United Nations Human Rights Council. For more information, please see our full report submitted on behalf of more than 35 organizations to the UN in April 2025 as part of the current UPR process.
