Pope Demands a More Just Distribution of Wealth; Tells UN Food Is a Human Right,Not a Profit Item

Pope Francis demanded a more just distribution of the world's wealth for the poor and hungry today (November 20, 2014), telling a U.N. conference on nutrition that access to food is a basic human right and should not be subject to market speculation and quests for profit, the Huffington Post website reports.

"We ask for dignity, not charity," Francis told the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

"It is also painful to see that the struggle against hunger and malnutrition is hindered by 'market priorities,' the 'primacy of profit,' which have reduced foodstuffs to a commodity like any other, subject to speculation, also of a financial nature," Francis said.

The U.N. estimates that a third of all food produced is lost to waste and spoilage.