18 - Hunger Games

Summary

Chapter 18 provides a human rights’ narrative in envisioning the implementation of competition law in the food value chain. The authors argue that competition law, with its inherent focus on market regulation and providing a level playing field to market players, offers a credible conceptual and institutional response for addressing this challenge along transparent, predictable and sustainable lines. They argue that not only does the implementation of the right to food stand to benefit from a market-centred approach but also that competition itself becomes a more “holistic” and meaningful tool for social reform by taking into account values inherent in the progress towards the global right to food by integrating the multi-dimensional reality of the global food supply and retail chain in the assessment of specific commercial practices and/or sectors. The Chapter provides the “grammar” of a more holistic competition policy in this crucial sector for national and global economies and attempts to dissect the actual and potential impact of the right to food rhetoric on competition law enforcement.