Technology Fostering the Right to Choose

      One extremely important human right to me is the right to a healthy lifestyle. This is a narrower example of the right to choose, and when dealing with health, could include anything from the right to choose which foods you consume to the right to make your own healthcare decisions. America has a bad reputation of obesity and over-eating, which at times is blamed on lack of information provided as far as where the foods we eat come from, and what exactly they contain and do to our bodies. The most important way to maintain your health and exercise your right to choose what you put into your body is to be knowledgeable. Knowing the background of the food company as well as what is in the food can help you protect your health, a right that all humans should be entitled to. Anna Kramer mentions in her post on Oxfam America that humans are always more likely to grab products of well-known companies over products from smaller companies. However, the problem is consumers are unaware of the company backgrounds. One of the best propositions to inform consumers is through the use of technology. The world is entirely tied up in there smart phones nowadays, so it seems like the best way to get everyone’s attention would be to broadcast it in a way that fits the current society. The discussion on how to “improve labeling and transparency for food products” has taken the turn towards exploring apps used to scan food barcodes. Every consumer will have the information about their food available to them right at their fingertips. Kramer, however, thinks that there’s more to know than just what is inside the food. In order to preserve the right of good health for all people across the world, she thinks it is important to also know about the major food companies and what they are doing to help world hunger and poverty. With so many major brands to choose from, why not choose one that is healthy for you and is known for operating sustainably and providing for world hunger. The apps that are being researched will provide consumers with this sort of information, making it much easier to not only exercise your own right to choose what you put in your body, but to choose to support well-known companies providing those less fortunate with the right to good health. 

http://firstperson.oxfamamerica.org/2014/07/app-tell-food-comes/