Food is a fundamental right, lifestyles must change, Pope says
“The current crisis, which affects all sectors of the economy without distinction, strikes particularly seriously at the agricultural world where the situation has become dramatic," writes Benedict XVI. “The crisis calls on governments and on the various components of the international community to make decisive and effective choices.”
“The theme of this year’s World Food Day is ‘Achieving food security in times of crisis’.” This day invites us to see “farming as a fundamental component of food security and an integral part of the economy. For this reason, agriculture must be able to command a sufficient level of investment and resources. This theme helps us understand that the goods of creation are by their very nature limited, and that they require responsible management capable of favouring food security, including that of future generations. Profound solidarity and far-sighted brotherhood are needed.”
For Benedict XVI, “Achieving this objective calls for a modification in lifestyles and ways of thinking. It forces the international community and its institutions to intervene in a more appropriate and determined way. What is needed is a form of co-operation that protects the cultivation methods of each area and avoids the thoughtless exploitation of natural resources. I hope that such co-operation may safeguard the values of the rural world and the fundamental rights of people who work the land. Putting aside privileges, profits and comforts, these goals can be realised to the benefit of men, women, children, families and communities living in the poorest corners of the planet, who are thus most vulnerable.”
“Experience shows that technical solutions, advanced though they may be, are ineffective if they do not focus on the person, who remains the principle protagonist and who, in his spiritual and material dimension, is the origin and aim of all activity".
More than an elementary need, “access to food is a fundamental right of individuals and peoples, and will become a reality, and hence a form of security, if adequate development is guaranteed in all the various regions. In particular, the drama of hunger will only be overcome by eliminating the structural causes that give rise to it and by promoting the agricultural development of poorer countries. This can be done by investing in rural infrastructures, irrigation systems, transport, organisation of markets, and in the development and dissemination of agricultural technology that can make the best use of the human, natural and socio-economic resources that are more readily available at the local level (Caritas in veritate, N. 27).”
“The Catholic Church, faithful to its vocation of being close to those who are last, promotes, supports and participates in efforts to enable all peoples and communities to have the necessary resources to ensure an adequate level of food safety.”
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