Regulating the Right to Adequate Food in Mexico: Informant Insights About the General Law on Adequate and Sustainable Food

Background: The right to adequate food (RtAF) is increasingly incorporated into domestic food and nutrition legal frameworks to inform policy-making. Mexico’s General Law on Adequate and Sustainable Food (LGAAS), enacted in April 2024, is the country’s first law to operationalize the RtAF, which has been recognized in Article 4 of the Mexican Constitution since 2011, within domestic food policy. We examined informant insights on the LGAAS, focusing on its policy formulation and informant perspectives on the RtAF in the law. Methods: We conducted a review of legislative documents and semi-structured key informant interviews. The document review covered the period from the law’s introduction to parliament (2020) to its approval (2024). Interviews (13) were conducted with informants from the Mexican government, academia, international development partners, and civil society involved in or influencing the formulation of the LGAAS. The health policy triangle framework informed the interview guide development, while both deductive and inductive thematic approaches guided the analysis. Results: Informants identified how the following key factors affected the formulation of the LGAAS: regional action influenced RtAF legislation, national intersectoral collaboration fostered accountability, coalition building sustained momentum, and an enabling policy environment supported prioritization of the LGAAS. Political contentions and perceived industry influence also impacted negotiations. Informants consistently framed the RtAF as a cross-cutting concept linked to food security and food sovereignty, but there were differing interpretations of the state’s role in the progressive realization of the RtAF to deliver food system transformation in Mexico. Conclusion: The LGAAS positions Mexico among a small number of countries adopting a rights-based framework to address food system reform. Its formulation highlights the role of several key factors in supporting the operationalization of the RtAF into an actionable framework law, though implementation is yet to occur.