Graduate students reflect on rights in the food system

Today’s guest post was written by Ryan Andrews, Aliyah Leighton, and Alexa Downs - graduate students in Dr. Maria Carlota Dao’s Community Nutrition course at the University of New Hampshire - reflecting on two of the thematic discussions we hosted in March 2025 with members and partners of the National Right to Food Community of Practice as we prepared our joint submission to the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process. 

We are grateful to Ryan, Aliyah and Alexa for sharing their reflections with us. 

Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash

We Must Decentralize to Democratize 

“The world of food is rife with formidable problems, some of which are the consequences of turning an essential source of nourishment into a major global profit center.” – Mark Bittman

So often when we think about solutions to problems in the food system we think about innovative technology, artificial intelligence, or rules/regulations. But we tend to neglect one of the most powerful and practical approaches to many of our food systems problems: Creating opportunities for people to be involved in the decisions that shape these systems. 

On March 10th, 2025 the National Right to Food Community of Practice hosted a (virtual) conversation with a small group of its members and partners to discuss the theme Food Systems Should be Controlled by People. It was an engaging discussion, and afterwards I was left with nearly four pages of notes, two sore hands, and three important takeaways when thinking about the future of food. 

Takeaway #1: There are many people trying to make changes to the food system, but they aren’t thinking about the entire food system

There are unpredictable players in government who may have good intentions, but ideas can be misplaced when they have a limited perspective of food production and consumption. The current administration showcases “Make America Healthy Again”, yet many of the decisions made so far have been more directed at what one member referred to as: “Make America Hungry Again.” Taking a systems wide approach and addressing structural issues around expenses, living wages, and land ownership could go a long way towards empowering people to get involved with food production. 

Spending time educating others about food system basics (e.g., where food comes from, how it’s produced, etc.) and raising awareness about local solutions that already exist may be of use to people who have limited bandwidth and deeply grooved habitual food shopping habits. People can’t always connect the dots between how food choices influence human and planetary health. 

Takeaway #2: Make a difference as an individual and as a collective

Food experts will sometimes suggest that eaters vote with their fork or vote with their dollars. While this is worth considering, sometimes people don’t have the capacity to vote in this way. One participant stated this succinctly: “We hear ‘vote with your food dollars’, but not everyone has food dollars to vote with.”

Another participant suggested that we ask ourselves as food citizens: “What can I do with other people to help improve the food system?” This question shifts the burden of change from the individual to the community. 

Takeaway #3: Consider what people actually need

More money or technology won’t necessarily help to ensure healthy food is getting to more people. Rather, learning more about what people in different communities need in order to be empowered is where efforts should likely be focused. 

One group member posed the question: “What is the social, cultural, and economic capital that people need in order to be empowered?” Without addressing this, we will likely continue to see food insecurity. 

Conclusion: A food system controlled by people

As the meeting neared its conclusion, a question was asked about what the food system would look like if it were actually controlled by the people. Responses included:

• There will be no tradeoffs between health, workers, animals, and the environment.

• People will be engaged and enjoy the process of cooking. 

• Food will be available everywhere, including yards, parks, and community gardens. 

• People will have the agency to choose food that is culturally appropriate and food that honors both human and planetary health.  

While many approaches exist to ensure that people have more control throughout the food system, the question now becomes: Is there enough societal and political momentum for anything to actually change?

Photo by Francesco Gallarotti on Unsplash

Food Should be Environmentally Sustainable 

On Thursday, March 13th, 2025, the National Right to Food Community of Practice hosted a virtual discussion focused on the food system and environmental sustainability. Throughout the discussion, community members reflected on what is happening and has happened with the food system around policy, equity, sustainability, and how to make improvements moving forward.

Takeaway #1: Farming and food production contribute significantly to pollution and environmental issues in communities, particularly affecting vulnerable populations 

A main point that was brought up repeatedly throughout the discussion was the pollution that farming and food production have been emitting into the community and surrounding neighborhoods. There is drilling and mining for resources to keep factories running, manure lagoons contaminating the drinking water, and corn is grown for gasoline production and feed lots instead of the community. Vulnerable populations are affected by other environmental factors on top of food production, such as weather and homelessness. The United States is overproducing food, which incentivizes food waste. Food waste was discussed in two parts, systemic and personal. Individuals can take certain actions to help with the issue, but the system must implement their actions to help contribute to less food waste.

Takeaway #2: The current administration’s denial of climate issues and lack of action is impacting previous progress toward a sustainable food system

Another part of this discussion is the administration and policymakers. The current administration denies that climate change is occurring and is not actively working towards solutions. The previous administration made progress with policy efforts towards a more sustainable food system, but if the current administration does not continue, the progress will be lost. In comparison to other countries, the United States has taken more time to merge departments and combine the right to food with environmental justice. There were purposeful funding values and allocated funds to fix these issues, but now those promises are being broken or taken away.

Takeaway #3: Innovative approaches to sustainable food practice

During this discussion, members talked about what they felt needed to improve and how they would go about implementing these ideas. The idea of eating with the planet in mind was brought up to bring awareness to the effect of the foods we eat. This opens the conversation around the environmental effect and how we can reduce it. This also expands food literacy and how we can reclaim the need for production. One change that could be made now is the elimination of pesticides and the reinforcement of safe farming practices. One member stated “All of the toxins are being traded around ... not only are we using all these toxic chemicals, but a lot of the ‘foods’ are going to the feed lots and gasoline tanks. That is not food, it's corn”. Federal policy can incentivize local food production for human consumption, not livestock. This regulation would stop the ability for foods to be passed from one level to the next. As well as bringing nutrient-dense foods into institutional settings. All these ideas open the conversation to market climate-smart context, showing that there is room for innovation, research, and creativity.

Conclusion: The key steps for progress

To conclude the discussion, members reflected on what needs to happen to see improvement. Overall, there needs to be more regulation/policy surrounding sustainability and the food system, but to get there, we need to focus on education and research. If the community is unaware of what is happening and how their actions are affecting the climate, then there will not be support for change. By prioritizing these areas, we can pave the way for a more sustainable and resilient future.