“Food is a Human Right for All!”: Farmers and civil society call for signatures to recognise food as a fundamental human right

Alongside hundreds of organisations active in agriculture, social justice, environmental protection, animal welfare, food systems and human rights, ECVC is asking to enshrine in EU law the rights of farmers and citizens to grow and eat food according to the principles of food sovereignty, as is already recognised in non-binding legal instruments such as the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Peasants and other people working in rural areas.

At a time when food insecurity is rising sharply across Europe, and farmers’ livelihoods are under constant pressure, this Initiative sends a clear political message: food must not be treated as a commodity, but as a right guaranteed for all.

The ECI challenges current policies that prioritize free trade and market-based solutions, using European farming and food systems as a bargaining chip to benefit other industries. It instead demands structural responses rooted in food sovereignty, a sustainable transition towards agroecology, and social justice that protect the rights of farmers and citizens.

As a tool of participatory democracy, the European Citizens’ Initiative must collect at least one million validated signatures across a minimum number of Member States in one year to force the European Commission to examine the demands, meet the organisers, and publicly respond.

For ECVC, it is high time the European Institutions were held to account and made to listen to the democratic processes of citizens on food and agri-policies:

“At a moment when the EU institutions are forcing through undemocratic policies and pushing a dangerous and short-sighted agenda of deregulation, such as is happening with the EU-Mercosur FTA, it is time for citizens to come together and take a stand to defend food as a human right. The right to food means the right of everyone to have access to sufficient, adequate and healthy food, and EU policies must work towards this objective, including the future CAP,” explains Pierre Maison, member of ECVC and La Confédération paysanne.

Signature collection is open to all EU citizens from 7 January 2026 and will run for one year. Every signature strengthens the collective demand for a food system that prioritises human rights over profit.

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