...[I]n 1982 and 1983, the US was alone in voting against a declaration that education, work, health care, proper nourishment and national development are human rights. It would appear that even 13 years later, official American attitudes had not "softened". In 1996, at a United Nations-sponsored World Food Summit, the US took issue with an affirmation by the summit of the "right of everyone to have access to safe and nutritious food". The United States insisted that it does not recognize a "right to food". Washington instead championed free trade as the key to ending the poverty at the root of hunger, and expressed fears that recognition of a "right to food" could lead to lawsuits from poor nations seeking aid and special trade provisions. [2]
[2] _Washington Post_, November 18, 1996
(William Blum, _Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower_, Monroe, Maine, Common Courage Press, 2000, p. 198) ***** -- Yoshie
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