Food security practices and perceptions among representatives of institutions of a reference center located in the Butantã region, city of São Paulo

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze practices and perceptions about Food Security (FS) among representatives (n = 23) of institutions of an FS Reference Center located in the Butantã region, city of São Paulo, Brazil. The qualitative method and the Collective Subject Discourse (CSD) were used to analyze statements collected by means of interviews. A total of 56.5% of the studied population were considered as non-technicians and 43.5% as technicians. Forty-five answers related to actions and 33 answers related to perceptions contributed to build CSDs. Results showed that the most cited action by non-technicians was "preparation and distribution of meals" (41.6%), while technicians cited "guidance and community courses" (28.5 %). As for meaning, we had: "feeding in an attractive way, lacking nothing" (35.3%) by non-technicians and "enabling people to get the food they need" (37.4%) by technicians. It was seen that technicians believe that FS is a concept formed by many components, such as the "human right to food", and "enabling people so that they have access to food"; thus, they develop activities that meet this way of thinking. Non-technicians believe that FS is a food intake which meets quantitative, qualitative, emotional, and social needs; thus, they also develop actions according to this perception. Conclusions indicated congruence between FS practices and perceptions, but not between the discourse of technicians and non-technicians. The differences observed may generate conflicts because the community and institutions involved may not integrate their actions.