Food security in Europe: from the right to food security to the realization of the right to adequate food (features of economic and legal support)

The article deals with the issues of economic and legal provision of food security in the European Union (hereinafter the EU). The authors analyzed the concept of “food security”, enshrined in the legal acts of the EU, identified the main indicators for assessing the state of food security in the EU member states. Based on publicly available statistical data for August 2021 (Preparatory study on food waste in the EU countries. Brussels. 2010; Household food security in the UK: A Review of food aid. Final Report University of Warwick and Food Ethics Council, Warwick, UK, 2014; the report of the European Commission on the results of the implementation of the program “Fund for European Assistance to the most disadvantaged” 2015, the report of the European Commission-Eurostat for 2019 and 2020) shows the level of food supply to the population in some EU countries and makes a reasonable conclusion that despite the availability of available food resources, not all people living in the EU are provided with food (food) in the required amount. Attention is drawn to the lack of a national legal framework in some European countries that guarantees the right to food and the provision of food to the most vulnerable social groups of the population to all those living on their territory. The article presents the points of view of experts and scientists who have studied the state of economic and legal provision of food security in the EU member states. The conducted research allowed the authors to conclude that the peculiarity of the economic and legal provision of food security in Europe is the concentration of food in large urban centers, which leads to a violation of the fundamental rights and freedoms of the majority of citizens living in the territory of the European Union, especially in the conditions of the economic crisis.