Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to shed light on how hunger was understood in the 1930s and 1940s in Brazil, analyzing mainly the press, literature and scientific production of the period. It can be seen that the term hunger, as a social phenomenon and not a biological sensation, was closely linked to the sense of crisis. For example, a great drought in the northeastern hinterland generated hunger, a war could also be a cause of hunger. However, nutrition studies and food surveys have started to understand the needs beyond the crisis: nutritional problems, associated diseases and malnutrition were linked to the availability of food from the principle that human beings would need the minimum necessary for the healthy maintenance of life in their daily lives. Thus, the rationalized diet has created tools such as counting calories and discovering vitamins that changed the understanding about food intake. With the repercussion of this new view in Brazil, the term hunger takes on a broader meaning, which Josué de Castro named in his book “Geography of Hunger,” of hidden hunger: even in a regular situation, there may be hunger because it is a structural and social problem, and not arising from climatic and temporary issues. The focus is on how a particular social group looked at the phenomenon of hunger and how it gradually widened its meaning. It is not just an epistemological issue, as the expansion of its definition has a substantial impact on how the public policies were constrcuted.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Hunger, Brazil, Nutrition, Public policy
