Feeding human rights: Jimmy Carter’s food politics for World Hunger

This article explores the complex relationship between human rights and global food politics, focusing on the Carter Administration's Presidential Commission on World Hunger (the World Hunger Commission, 1978–1980). The World Hunger Commission highlighted defining aspects of the 1970s human rights movement: the expansion of social and economic rights, influenced by the right to development and shaped by the post-colonial aspirations of the 1960s. The social and economic rights had begun to be integrated into the human rights agenda in Western societies. Adopting a basic needs approach, the World Hunger Commission linked food security and hunger alleviation to market dynamics, including distribution systems and individual priorities. It examined the complexities of the global food system, encompassing production, processing, preservation, transport and consumption. These measures, it contended, would enable developing nations to escape poverty by participating in international markets. This study examines the Carter administration's efforts to end world hunger, highlighting the crucial role of human rights in shaping and implementing a market-driven approach to global poverty and hunger.