In addition to whey, sold as an alternative to long life in the face of soaring prices, supermarkets on the outskirts of São Paulo have been selling items such as out-of-the-range beans, cold cuts —trays with leftover cheese and ham—, carcass and skin of chicken.
In Capão Redondo, in the south zone, the report found, next to the common bean, the so-called “beans outside the type”, composed of 70% whole grains and 30% bandinha beans. [partido], according to the Solito Alimentos website. Its sale is authorized as long as it is identified, “fulfilling the marking and labeling requirements”.
In the market, this type of beans cost R$ 8.48, while the traditional carioca of the same brand cost R$ 9.98. In the same store, cold cuts were sold as promotional items, with pieces of leftover cheese.
In Grajaú, also in the south of the capital, markets and butchers were selling chicken carcass and skin in plastic bags and trays. At the Fonte Nova market, in Guarulhos, in Greater São Paulo, a box of milk ranges from R$8 to R$10. Over there, by-products such as whey and condensed mixtures have become the cheapest alternative.
“The quality is not the same, and I honestly don’t like to consume them, but I need to take some milk home”, says a 53-year-old retiree, resident of Jardim Cocaia, who asked not to be identified. She pays a maximum of R$ 7 to purchase the serum, an amount that makes a difference at the end of the month.
“I change products or I can’t buy them. Daily prices increase in supermarkets. It’s impossible to maintain the same quality of life with the current situation”, says administrative assistant Patrícia Ribeiro, 38, a resident of the Maranhão neighborhood, on the east side of the capital. . Condensed milk, for example, cost twice as much as the ‘generic’ version, the milk mixture, at the market where she shopped.
The crisis and inflation also boosted markets that sell products close to their expiration date, the so-called “vencidinhos”.
Sought, the Fonte Nova supermarket says that there was no communication from the distribution company to guide consumers. Solito did not respond to the report.
Families consume purchased or donated skin and carcass
With more than 15 million going hungry in Brazil, the number of people who eat products such as chicken carcass and skin purchased or obtained by donation is growing.
“Eating feet, carcass, here at home is a luxury when there are. We can’t even buy eggs anymore, because it’s expensive”, says Ionara Jesus, resident of São Paulo (SP).
The unemployed woman seeks support for four daughters. “These days here at home, to tell you the truth, I can’t even buy carcass, because I don’t even have enough left over for that.”
With two children, Elizabete Almeida Leite, from Nova Iguaçu (RJ), receives donations from a neighbor. “I get chicken skin, carcass, pork and beef fat. There’s a lady here where I live who collects recycling, so she asks for things at the market, and she helps me a lot”, she says.
Elisabete, who is unemployed and depends on Auxílio Brasil, receives donations from an acquaintance who works in a restaurant. “They threw the chicken skins away, but now they send them to me, who make fries with the food, with the tomato.”
Josefa da Silva lives in Osasco (Grande SP) with three children, four grandchildren, a niece and two of her children. All are unemployed, living with Auxílio Brasil and odd jobs.
His family’s financial condition began to deteriorate four years ago when his son was in a motorcycle accident. Since then, leftovers make up a regular part of their diet.
“In my house there is no rice to eat today. We are trying to see if anyone can find at least one rice, something. There is no mixture. Today the children did not drink coffee. It’s terrible, a really sad condition”, says Josefa.
She says that leftovers from the fair and donations allow her to put food on the table and cites the butcher shops in the region as an example: “Here, close to home, who already know us, we pick up leftover carcass, chicken, fat, when they give, but it’s ok. very difficult to give too, because now they put everything up for sale.”
Jorge Toquetti, director-general of the NGO Banco de Alimentos, says that the NGO uses food that would be discarded because it has lost commercial characteristics, such as fruit left aside in supermarkets.
“We go through collecting these foods, we do a new sorting of the good ones for consumption, and we send them to about 60 institutions, which serve around 25 thousand people daily.”
The NGO also works to raise awareness that parts of food commonly seen as leftovers, such as husks, stalks and seeds, can be better used, with health benefits. “Often these parts of the food are the richest in protein and vitamins.”
The chicken carcass and skin are not included in the distribution. “We don’t distribute, we don’t consider it usable for food.”
‘It was already part of the consumption of tens of millions of Brazilians’
Rodrigo Afonso, executive director of the anti-hunger NGO Ação da Cidadania, says that the consumption of commonly discarded products, such as chicken carcass and skin, was already part of the routine of tens of millions of Brazilians, who resort to this type of food. food to put some protein on the table.
According to a report by the UN (United Nations), 61.3 million (about 3 in every 10 inhabitants of Brazil) live with some type of food insecurity. Of these, 15.4 million are severely food insecure, meaning they are hungry.
Afonso explains that in severe food insecurity, eating leftovers or very cheap food predominates. “The person doesn’t have anything to eat. So he goes to try every day, he wakes up needing to run after what he’s going to eat that day, and in the process he eats anything that appears. the cheapest things possible, like cookies, to somehow try to feed themselves.”
Afonso says that with proteins, fruits and vegetables increasingly expensive, the consumption of ultra-processed products, which are often cheaper and harmful to health, such as sausages and sausages, increases.
“It’s a kind of hunger. Even though you have food on the table, the person is hungry for nutrients, he is slowly getting sick as he is not consuming healthy food.”
Family doctor Luciana Defendi Navarrete says that the change in food composition can cause obesity, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia in a higher percentage.
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