"Eu costumo fazer lavoura o ano todo, pois se a gente não plantar, tem que comprar": um estudo sobre segurança alimentar e nutricional no Assentamento Campo Novo do município de Jequitinhonha, MG

Abstract

Family farming practiced in rural settlements is one of the main ways for residents access food. It allows them to continue in this space, producing a diversity of agricultural crops for self consumption and, consequently, strengthening local food security and ensuring a healthy diet. In that way, the main objective of the research was analyzes food and nutritional security based on the production of food for self-consumption of families in the Campo Novo Settlement, municipality of Jequitinhonha/MG. The methodology used was predominantly qualitative, with a bibliographic study about family farming, public politics and food and nutritional security as well as the geographical characterization of the research. Sequentially, a field survey was conducted in which all 57 farming families were interviewed through semi-structured questionnaires for data collection and an interview with a focus group of settlers with the leader of the community association, former leaders of the association and farmers. The Food production is limited to climatic factors in the “wet” period and “dry” period, pointing out that in some periods there is a high and diversified production, while in the other there is a shortage of food caused by the lack of rain and, consequently, the decrease in production for self consumption. This create conditions for an increase in the consumption of products from markets of the city, so that some families do not have options to choose from, looking for artificial and processed foods, that are unhealthy, promoting the process of food and nutritional insecurity. However, the data also shows the importance of creating settlements like the main way of acquisition of the land plot, as well as producing food and keep farmers in the countryside. The Families understand the importance of the produced food on their plot at the daily diet, which is considered by everyone like healthy and agroecological food, in addition to more beneficial to health.