'Food-insecure' Canada rebukes UN official

Stung by a UN official's criticism of the country for allowing some of its people to go hungry, Canada has described Olivier De Schutter as a "patronising academic" and said there are more pressing food concerns in other countries.

"Canada has long been seen as a land of plenty. Yet today one in 10 families with a child under six is unable to meet their daily food needs," De Schutter, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, said in a statement on Wednesday.

"These rates of food insecurity are unacceptable, and it is time for Canada to adopt a national right to food strategy."