The Right to Food: Trends and Comparative Analysis of Legal Frameworks in Italy, Brazil and the United States

Abstract

This article performs a comparative assessment of the right to food (RtF) as a living right that must be continuously implemented in the constitutions, in legislative acts and in all the acts that derive from them. In particular, I applied, to the present study, the comparative methodology of constitutional law of the “most different cases” to select the comparable cases. The recognition of the RtF is present in numerous national constitutions. There are three possible categories: a) explicit recognition, as a human right in itself or as part of another, broader human right; b) recognition as a directive principle of state policy; and c) implicit recognition, through broad interpretation of other human rights. It was carried out a comparative analysis of the Italian legislation with the U.S. and Brazil legal framework at international, constitutional and national level to see the different methodology, with an explicit or implicit reference in Constitution which it represents a first step to realize the RtF in the countries, but it does not represent an exhaustive and definitive solution.