Promoting the consumption of fruit and vegetables: Initiatives from the Brazilian Government
Brazil has several examples of initiatives which can be seen as opportunities to promote the consumption of fruit and vegetables (FV). Since it is recognized that a wide spectrum of factors influence the population’s eating habits such as income, food price, availability, marketing, flavour, the combination of cost-satiety-flavour and the meaning and values of food, the Federal Government’s actions take into account the food system as a whole.
The initiatives reach a broad range of axes of action including: Food and Nutrition Education; Food Supply; Income and Access to Food; Quality Control; Advertisement of Fruits and Vegetables; Pesticides Regulations; Local Production and Consumption; Transition for Agroecological Ways of Production; Preservation of Agrobiodiversity; Agricultural Subsidies and Rural Credit.
In spite of the numerous initiatives from the Government and the wide variety of FV in Brazil, the consumption of these is still bellow the World Health Organization’s recommendations for the population. Advances have been made, especially by strengthening the Food and Nutrition Security perspective within the actions, increasing debates, presenting new laws and researches to support them. However, to achieve a more noticeable effect upon the promotion of FV it is essential to integrate these initiatives towards this specific goal, and consequently be able to plan, assess and manage actions.
Brasil. Ministério da Saúde. Instituto Nacional de Câncer (INCA)