Abstract
The U.S. is experiencing unprecedented levels of homelessness and food insecurity. In 2024, the number of unhoused persons on a single night reached the highest ever recorded, and in 2023, 13.5% of the population lived in food insecure households, including 7.2 million children. Both homelessness and food insecurity further have disproportionate impacts based on race and gender. In this context, community-led tools, such as community kitchen events and public feedings, have played an important role in providing people experiencing extreme hardship with access to adequate food, as well as a safe community space. However, rather than supporting these efforts or addressing the root causes of homelessness and food insecurity, governments increasingly criminalize homelessness, or life-sustaining activities conducted in public, including targeting service providers. The international human right to an adequate standard of living provides an important framework to address the criminalization of homelessness and reorient law and policy towards dignity, health, and well-being. At the same time, this article calls for a reconceptualization of this right to recognize community-led responses and solidarity efforts as an essential collective dimension of a human rights approach relevant to our times.