Food insecurity policy in Brazil: responses and challenges

Food and Nutrition Security (FNS) is a concept in Brazil, defined as the completion of people’s right to the regular and permanent access to food with quality, quantity, without committing the access to the other essential necessities; this is based on healthy eating practices, that respect the cultural diversity and are social, economic and environmentally sustainable. FNS also was enacted as a law, with a reference to hunger eradication. The led to the establishment of the FNS system, and the creation of Hunger Zero (Fome Zero) program. Initiatives were then developed to promote FSN, such as the Public Infrastructure for FNS (popular restaurants, community kitchens, food bank and Food Procurement Program), with actions among different sectors - public, private, civil society and researchers. Also, civil society and researchers monitored levels of food insecurity (FI) in the country, showing its progress. Over the years, with federal government changes and reductions in funding, some of these policies have been disassembled, and the relationship created among sectors has been less tangible. As consequence, FI has increased, showing the damage caused by these actions and worsened by the pandemic. This chapter describes this process and makes some responses and challenges for the future to eradicate FI in the country.