Hunger and Legal Strategies for Overcoming It

With due proportions, hunger is an issue that affects vulnerable human groups in Europe, America, Africa, Asia and Oceania, that is, all over the world. Furthermore, it can also be considered a violation of the Human Right to Adequate Food, as established in International Human Rights Treaties and in domestic legal systems of various countries. Aiming to address this situation, California Assembly Bill No. 1961 (End Hunger in California Act of 2024) has introduced innovative and strategic mechanisms to ensure access to food for the vulnerable Californian population. In this context, this research aims to analyze the aforementioned legislative proposal, focusing on the analytical identification of the strategic innovations present in that normative proposal that are potentially replicable and/or adaptable to the legal systems of other countries (including Brazil, Mexico and Chile, in Latin American and Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovakia, in Europe) where vulnerable population segments still experience violations of the Human Right to Adequate Food. Through a methodology combining documental, telematic, and descriptive research, two innovations were identified as potentially viable normative alternatives for addressing hunger in legal systems of other countries: (i) focus on combating food racism and (ii) focus on addressing food deserts.