The main objective of this research is to characterize and compare household food intake of two riverine populations located in the Floodplains of the Lower Amazon (Ituqui Island, Santarém-PA) (1995-97). A special emphasis is given to the role of agriculture in the food consumption patterns of these populations. The obtained results indicate high levels of protein intake in relation to energy intake, relative seasonal instability of energy sources, and increasing dependency on imported industrialized foodstuffs. In spite of such a pattern, food items locally produced such as manioc flour (farinha) and fish remain as the main part of local diet. In addition, a broad array of subsistence and commercial activities as well as the intense exploitation of different ecological zones by the local population were observed. The above scenario tends to undermine some of the major assumptions on the supposed environmental homogeneity and simplicity of productive strategies among native populations, which have dominated until recently the development of academic knowledge and practice.
diet; agriculture; floodplains; Caboclos; Amazonia
