Rethinking food at Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences

Munich, Germany – The shift from viewing food as a tradable commodity to recognizing it as a fundamental human right featured prominently at a recent university lecture that challenged students to rethink the foundations of agrifood systems. The lectures organized by the University’s Centre for International Affairs in collaboration with the Master's programmes in Regional Management (MRM), Sustainable Regional Development (MRD), Digital Farming (MDF), and Climate Change Management (MCC), aimed to provide students and other participants with a multidisciplinary perspective on the global importance of the right to adequate food.  Claire Mason from FAO’s Right to Food Team  delivered a capacity-development session on “The Right to Adequate Food - Rethinking food from a mere commodity to a human right” to university students.  


The session highlighted how human rights principles shape global food policy and how realizing the right to food can transform food systems to be more equitable and sustainable. Claire Mason emphasized that ensuring this right means more than simply providing food to people. “It is not just about giving people food – it is about ensuring that all people everywhere can access adequate food, sustainably, with dignity and justice,” she stressed, underlining the need for a human rights-based approach to combat malnutrition in all its forms. Drawing on over 25 years of experience, including at the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean in Chile, Claire Mason shared examples of national and local initiatives that demonstrate efforts to make the right to food a reality, and highlighted the practical tools supporting implementation including the Right to Food Guidelines. 


This engagement with students forms part of FAO’s broader efforts to advance awareness and strengthen capacities around a fundamental human right - the right to food. By reaching out to future generations, FAO aims to inspire young professionals to champion the human right to adequate food as a cornerstone of sustainable development. The sessions not only educated participants about the legal and policy foundations and moral imperative of the right to food, but also encouraged them to join global efforts to end hunger and ensure that all people can live with dignity, free from hunger and food insecurity.  


The right to food is recognized as a fundamental human right, yet hunger and malnutrition in all its forms persist in many parts of the world – and have even worsened in recent years, disproportionately affecting vulnerable communities and reflecting widening inequalities between and within countries. Claire Mason noted that recent global crises – from conflicts to climate change and biodiversity loss – have further exposed the fragility of agrifood systems. These challenges underscore the urgency of protecting the right to adequate food as part of broader efforts to build resilient, sustainable food systems.