O alimento-mercadoria e a fome no Brasil

The food as a commodity and the hunger in Brazil

Abstract

Brazil has favored agribusiness instead of family farming. In the agribusiness production networks, food is not treated as a social right, but rather as a commodity whose primary purpose is to obtain profit. This paper aims to contribute to the debate on the intrinsic relationship between agribusiness expansion and hunger in Brazil. Our starting point are some of the pillars that support food as a commodity, like ultra-processed food and economic concentration in its production and distribution. The methodology was structured according to the basic principles of qualitative research for the construction of a critical analysis. We conclude that in addition to the increase in production and productivity of agribusiness, we have the growth of people without access to food, showing that these processes are sides of the same coin. We also note that although hunger increased exponentially during the COVID-19 pandemic, agri-food businesses and supermarkets were among the most profitable during this period.