Acessibilidade / Reportar erro

The policy and politics of alternative food programs in Brazil

The urgency to solve infant malnutrition in Brazil is undisputed. Policies to achieve that, however, are not consensual. The Alternative Food Program, put forward by the Catholic National Confederation of Brazilian Bishops' Children Pastoral with the support of various federal organizations and international agencies, has been the focus of heated debate. Although the initiative per se has much to be praised for, program opponents argue that nutritional problems in food byproducts have been "demonstrated" by scientific research. To counteract their critics, program proponents also point to scientific results that have just as well "demonstrated" the nutritional value of the used products. The present article reconstructs and analyzes the content and context of this controversy.

alternative food; multimixture; analysis of controversies; sociology of information; starvation campaign; malnutrition


Casa de Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz Av. Brasil, 4365, 21040-900 , Tel: +55 (21) 3865-2208/2195/2196 - Rio de Janeiro - RJ - Brazil
E-mail: hscience@fiocruz.br