Local food production can ensure a healthier life for people living in large cities

What do cities like São Paulo, Recife and Curitiba have in common? The answer is alarming: over half of its inhabitants are affected with at least one chronic non-communicable disease (NCD), such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular and respiratory disease. These capitals also present a low rate of daily consumption of nutritious foods, while ultra-processed food types are increasingly present in the routine of their inhabitants. In view of such facts, the policy brief Promotion of health and food production in cities contends that food production in cities should be part of the list of public strategies to rein in the current rising trend of NCD illnesses and to promote the population´s health.

The publication is the result of a partnership entered between Instituto Escolhas and Cátedra Josué de Castro – Discipline of Healthy and Sustainable Nutrition Systems – linked to the Faculty of Public Health of the University of São Paulo – and provides a panorama of the health and food consumption of the populations in six capital cities (Rio de Janeiro, Belém, Federal District, São Paulo, Recife and Curitiba), based on data from the study conducted by Vigitel in 2023, “Surveillance of Risk and Protective Factors for Chronic Diseases by Telephone Survey and the National Health Survey (PNS) realized in 2019. The publication also provides recommendations for an effective relationship between local food production and strategies for the promotion of health through consumption of nutritious food.

Data from the policy brief shows that between 63% and 68% of the population in Brazilian capitals does not consume fruits and vegetables on a regular basis – i.e., five or more days a week. The percentage of people in capitals who do not consume the minimum consumption of 400g/day/person as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) is even higher: 78%, according to Vigitel.

“Such low consumption is often linked to the price of fresh foods, especially regarding socially vulnerable groups. Food production in urban areas has enormous potential to fight this issue, helping to reduce transportation and marketing costs. And we are talking about effective collaboration: studies by Instituto Escolhas have already shown that urban and peri-urban agriculture in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, for instance, is potentially capable to supply 20 million people yearly with vegetables… In Belém, planting in idle areas could produce over 20,000 tons of vegetables and cassava on 344 hectares. This volume would be sufficient for 1.7 million people a year, i.e., the entire population of the city,” explains Jaqueline Ferreira, research director at Instituto Escolhas.

Besides the price issue, dwellers of peripheral areas also face the lack of sufficient establishments selling fresh foods, while those offering ultra-processed products in these territories prevail, making the negative impact on health unavoidable.

“Scientific research leaves no doubt that adequate consumption of an assortment of fruits and vegetables, both in quantity and intake frequency, strengthens health, reducing therefore the risk of developing NCDs. On the other hand, frequent consumption of ultra-processed foods is an important risk factor to develop such illnesses. And the scenario seen in the capitals analyzed is exactly the opposite of what we would like to find: low consumption of fruits and vegetables, with growing use of ultra-processed foods, causing elevated levels of chronic diseases. To reverse this scenario, in addition to strategies for education regarding food and nutrition, which can help people make better food choices, it is essential that fresh food is produced and made available in cities, close to where people live, improving the possibilities of physical and financial access to such foodstuffs”, highlights Nadine Marques, researcher at Cátedra Josué de Castro.

Recommendations

The policy brief also draws attention to the responsibility of public management, which is responsible not only for the promotion of food production in cities, but also for the implementation of actions to ensure that this food reaches consumers, especially those in situations of socio-economic vulnerability.

One example is the cession of idle areas, such as empty lots and areas under power transmission lines, to farmers’ collectives and associations. In addition to school gardens, public facilities such as hospitals and prisons can also be spaces for food production. Another recommendation put forward by the publication is the acquisition of food from urban agriculture via institutional public procurement, especially for food security facilities such as popular restaurants and solidarity kitchens.

“Food production can radically improve the quality of life of the populations living in urban areas. But for this to happen, public management at all levels need to commit to this agenda and recognize its importance among the strategies for promoting health and combatting hunger,” concludes the director at Instituto Escolhas.