RIGHT TO FOOD AND NUTRITION WATCH

PREFACE
Social movements and the wider civil society have been deeply concerned with the
increasing control of businesses over food systems and policy spaces, particularly since
the food-price volatility crisis that shook the world in 2007/08. Most commonly referred
to as ‘corporate capture’, be it of resources, institutions, policy spaces or governance
structures, this reality is putting peoples’ sovereignty and human rights at great risk.
As warned in our first edition of the Watch in 2008 on “The World Food Crisis and
the Right to Food”, the present economic model cannot guarantee the conditions
for national governments to fulfill their human rights obligations, both at home
and abroad, including the right to adequate food and nutrition. This has been
clearly demonstrated by the diverse predicaments the world has faced since the
world food crisis. Communities worldwide have called on states to reject corporate
capture, to reaffirm their sovereignty and the centrality of human rights as the
unalienable pillars to address inequity, oppression and discrimination, and to
democratize national and global societies.
In this year’s Watch, we put nutrition under the spotlight and expose the impact of
business operations on peoples’ livelihoods. Nutrition is primarily acknow ledged as
the interaction between food and the human body. However, the focus on the resulting
health, well-being and capabilities of individuals should not be confined to technical
domains. Rather, it should expose and address the critical political and systemic
dimensions that can ensure diverse, wholesome, sustainable and culturally adequate
diets. Nutrition is, in many respects, a fundamental act of food sovereignty.
In this context, “Peoples’ Nutrition Is Not a Business” describes peoples’ struggle
to retake ownership over their lives and bodies from transnational corporations. It
uncovers subtle but appalling corporate abuse and impunity, and lists recommen dations
for states to prevent and punish initiatives that hamper the enjoyment of human rights.
Considering the specific adversities women and girls face in their everyday
lives, the Watch also draws attention to the link between the right to adequate food
and nutrition and the full realization of the rights of women and girls. Corporate
capture affects women and girls’ effective participation in political, economic and
social life, and impedes their role in the transformation of unequal gender-based
power relations.
The Watch Consortium publishes this edition amid a strong convergence of
the Global Network for the Right to Food and Nutrition. Having recently issued
a joint public declaration, 1 the Global Network enters a new phase, whereby civil
society the world over has committed to collectively fighting corporate capture.
As the Watch Consortium and the Global Network are closely linked, with the majority
of members participating in both forums, this synergy will ensure the Watch performs
as the most prominent monitoring tool for the Global Network synergy.
The Watch Consortium and the Global Network members would like to thank
all those who have contributed to “Peoples’ Nutrition Is Not a Business”. This publication
would simply not be possible without the knowledge and commitment of the
authors. We would also like to thank the 2015 Editorial Board members for their invaluable
support, namely Anne C. Bellows, Antonio Onorati, Bernhard Walter, Biraj
Patnaik, Francisco Sarmento, Manigueuigdinapi Jorge Stanley Icaza, Marcos Arana
Cedeño, Maria Melinda Ando, Monika Agarwal, Nora McKeon, Priscilla Claeys,
Sibonile Khoza, Stefano Prato, and Stineke Oenema. Special thanks go to the 2015
Watch Coordinator, M. Alejandra Morena, for her tireless work, which has played a
crucial role in ensuring a groundbreaking and comprehensive edition. Furthermore,
we would like to share our appreciation for the excellent and dedicated work of the
1 Global Network for the Right to Food and
Nutrition (GNRFN). “Statement of the
Members and Friends of the Global Network
for the Right to Food and Nutrition.”
Statement made at the annual meeting of
the GNRFN, Kathmandu, Nepal, July 20-22,
2015. Available at:
www.fian.org/fileadmin/media/media_
publications2015/Publications_July_2015/
GNRTFN_declaration_22_July_2015.pdf.
RIGHT TO FOOD AND NUTRITION WATCH 2015 8