Pope Francis has condemned the “primacy of profit”, which he said was hindering the battle against world hunger.
In a speech at the UN agency that combats hunger, he told politicians from around the world that the fight against under-nutrition is being handicapped by "the priority of the market and the pre-eminence of profit, which have reduced food to a thing to be bought and sold, and subject to speculation."
He told delegates gathered at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Rome that they need to view food and nutrition and the environment as global public issues at a time when nations are more tightly linked with each other than ever before.
"When solidarity is lacking in one country, it's felt around the world," he said.
States must make sure their pledges to assure food security to all citizens are put into practice, he said, stating that the right to a healthy diet was about dignity, not charitable handouts.
Despite there being enough food for everyone, food issues are regularly subject to manipulated information, claims about national security, corruption and “teary-eyed” evocations of economic crisis, Francis said. "That is the first challenge we need to overcome," he said.
The Pope quoted St Pope John Paul II, who condemned "the paradox of plenty" when addressing governments gathered at the agency 22 years ago. Francis lamented that the contradiction whereby "there is plenty of food for everyone but not everyone can eat", was still relevant today.
Photo: CNS
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