Trump’s signature domestic policy bill callously puts profit above people

By Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Inhumanity is at the core of H.R.1, the tax and immigration bill that narrowly made it through the House in May. If passed by the Senate, the bill will, according to the Congressional Budget Office, result in an increase of $2.4 trillion to the national debt and nearly $300 billion dollars in cuts to food assistance programs. This will have an unparalleled impact on SNAP and will increase household food insecurity in this country far beyond the current and shocking levels of 13.5% of the population.

This is one of the reasons the National Right to Food Community of Practice -  a coalition of more than 200 members across the U.S. - is working together to grow a rights-based movement to transform the food system. We aim to challenge a corporate-controlled food and farming system that has resulted in wealth generation for the few and poor health for the majority. We are working towards a world where everyone has the means to secure, prepare, and consume nutritious and culturally valued food; where corporations and governments take responsibility for harm they cause to our health, communities, and the planet; and where communities most affected by food injustice lead, shape, and drive proposed policy and initiatives that meet their needs.

The United States government has refused to be bound by most international human rights laws containing the right to food, but by signing the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights in 1977, the U.S. agreed to refrain from any actions that go against the aims of this treaty. These aims include a commitment to the continuous improvement of living conditions for all people and the belief that people should enjoy freedom from fear and want derived from the inherent dignity of each person. Current proposals to prioritize tax cuts for billionaires over life-saving services for communities across the U.S. directly contradict the spirit and intent of a human rights based approach.     

We are working to bring a legally enforceable right to food into state and local laws to help people across the country build a future where financial and nutrition assistance keep pace with the cost of living and integrated laws and policies are in place to end hunger, promote local food economies, support food and farm workers, address health inequities, and mitigate the effects of climate change. 

Having the right to food codified in state constitutions, such as in Maine – the first and only state to do so – and adopted in local policies would help advocates across the United States in their efforts to bring greater transparency to decision-making and to resist these types of attacks on our right to food. It’s time to stop framing food as a commodity and declare it a human right! 

We urge you to contact your senators as they prepare to begin debate on this bill. And we invite you to join our growing network of advocates working throughout the United States to advance the right to food.