Proposição de diretrizes para minimizar o desperdício de alimentos em unidades familiares da base da pirâmide

Abstract

In recent years the food waste has received growing interest of governments, national and international non-governmental organizations and academic researchers from diverse disciplines. The growing preoccupation about food security, food distribution and the food production environmental impacts catches the academic attention to this theme. Though food waste occurs along all food supply chain stages, the household ambient is identified as a key actor in the food waste generation. However, evidence about why household food waste occurs is still inconclusive. In this study food waste habits was analyzed in a Base of Pyramid (BoP) belonging families group, identifying facilitators and barriers of food waste generation on the household level. The research aims to propose guidelines to minimize the household food waste and consequently allow the BoP families to improve on the utilization efficiency of his scarce food. Eighteen family chiefs of economically vulnerable and food donation dependant families were interviewed, as well as five volunteer workers from the philanthropy institution where the research was conducted. This group suits as a control group, because the families belong to the same geographic region, but no to same economic class. Obtained data were analyzed to identify waste generation triggers and possible barriers to its practices in the families routines. As expected were not identified substantial waste triggered by food acquisition habits, being the economic families condition identified as a barrier to this practice. However, we were identified waste generation triggered by cultural traces and personal habits, even in misery condition family under the form of waste good food parts due to lack of knowledge about how to use or reuse leftovers. The main guidelines to minimize the waste identified refer to education actions by public campaigns, tax breaks to boost private campaigns and articulation between private, public and philanthropic institutions for education initiatives focused on the base of pyramid audience. The development of these actions beyond reducing the waste amount generated can improve the food efficiency use of these families, condition that favors the poverty alleviation.