Carrot, orange, lemon, potato, onion, sweet potato, tomato, lettuce, apple, chard, leek, parsley and, to a lesser extent, pumpkin, are examples of fruits and vegetables in which since February a decrease in the supply to the domestic market began to be noticedafter two years in which, except for exceptions, this difficulty was not registered. This is a consequence of the drought. Although recently, since mid-March, there have been rains, in many cases the difficulties will persist, considering the realities of each production cycle.
Due to the shortage there were price increases and the offer of “different” productswhich do not necessarily conform to the aesthetic standards to which consumers are accustomed.
This reality was considered in a report prepared by the representation of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Uruguaywhich he accessed The Observer.
Camilo dos Santos
Study detected a high level of unused food.
Loss: one million tons
The first estimates on food losses and waste in Uruguay, carried out by the FAO and the Ricaldoni Foundation, indicate that about 11% of the total food available for human consumption is lost or wasted each year, that is, 1 million tons.
Faced with this reality, the National Food Institute (INDA) of the Uruguayan Ministry of Social Development (Mides) launched in 2021, within the framework of the health emergency, the campaign “nature is ferpect”that promotes the consumption of fruits and vegetables that do not match the standards that the Uruguayan population usually chooses.
The campaign is based on “Fruits and vegetables do not have to be perfect to fulfill their status as natural and nutritious food either”said Ignacio Elgue, director of INDA.
This initiative and the promotion of habits that reduce food waste, regains all its meaning when the effect of the water deficit becomes visible in the appearance and prices of the fruits and vegetables available for sale in the country.
John Samuelle
Farm producers, in Canelones.
“The situation of water deficit, logically, has consequences on the availability of food and, therefore, has repercussions on the food system in general, disproportionately affecting the poorest and most vulnerable. It is key to reflect and pay more attention to the patterns of production, marketing and consumption, including interventions by the State and the private sector”, said the Senior Officer for Regional Policies and Acting Representative of the FAO in Uruguay and Argentina, Jorge Meza. .
The consumption of fruits and vegetables in Uruguay is adapted to the offer, explained Pablo Pacheco, head of the Development Area of the Metropolitan Agri-Food Unit (UAM), the main fresh food supply center in the country, among other products.
“We have noticed that in recent years when the supply has increased, consumption has grown, because when the supply is abundant, the price is lower and allows people to consume more,” described Pacheco, who believes that “possibly the current situation threatens” this trend, “particularly for the socio-economic strata with less purchasing power.”
As a consequence of the drought, the size of apples, pears, onions and sweet potatoes is being smaller than usual and this affects the prices paid for them, since smaller sizes are sold in fewer quantities.
On the other hand, “We know that thousands of tons of these foods are thrown away annually, due to cost issues: they are not collected because harvesting them is more expensive than leaving them on the tree, or they remain on the market because, due to aesthetics or size, they do not fit. consume”Elgue explained.
“One would tend to think that a scenario of high prices like the one that is being displayed would be beneficial for the producer, but the reality is that the products have high prices due to a very low supply, they are not even going to be able to compensate for the high prices.” production costs involved in some crops with a very meager yield. There is a very critical situation for some producers,” added the UAM chief.
At the nutritional level, if there is a food group that is not questioned, it is fruits and vegetables, in different amounts and different forms, they are recommended in all situations, stressed the coordinator of the Nutrition Program Area of the Ministry of Public Health (MSP). , Virginia Natero.
Natero called to “look at the consumption of fruits and vegetables from another place. The impact of drought on food security is clearly perceived. The cost of fruits and vegetables will change in relation to the availability of water, how the fruits and vegetables have developed or not, and how the drought affects the cost and the final product.”
“We have to not only consume fruits and vegetables, but consume them consciously. Take advantage of them”he added, and recommended, for example, using all the parts of the chard, the beet leaves as well as the bulb, to “get a better yield from fruits and vegetables.”
John Samuelle
Due to the drought, the production decreased and above all it gave fruits with smaller caliber and other details.
Good public policy practices
In parallel to the campaign “Nature is ferpecta”, INDA made an agreement with the NGO Redalco, within the framework of which the state agency finances the logistics to rescue, directly from the properties or at the UAM, between 40 and 60 tons of fruit and vegetables per month and then, initially to distribute it to picnic areas and pots and, now, to supply the Uruguay Crece Contigo program, with baskets of fruits and vegetables that are going to be delivered to mothers, and Alimentando Derechos, which is going to be reissued this year, in the metropolitan area of Montevideo.
There is another campaign within the framework of which purchases are made from family farming organizations, based on the Law on public purchases from family farming and artisanal fishing, according to which 100% of decentralized purchases must be made from small or medium scale producers.
“Buying from family farming is also a way to reduce losses because we buy directly from authorized organizations, without intermediaries, and we also make a local supply, avoiding problems related to moving to Montevideo and then from the UAM to the interior. It is also a virtuous circle because these producers receive a better price than if they sold it to the market, because we pay the market price and an extra for logistics, because we buy ‘at the door’ or in the organizations’ sheds”, argued Elgue.
The INDA director assures that in two years of work and delivery of “ferpectas” fruits and vegetables, they had no problem receiving them from the beneficiaries. “These are conversations that we have had with the boys from Redalco: If you are going to give an apple to a 5-year-old child, the standard size apple, he does not eat it all, half is wasted. On the other hand, if you give him a smaller one, like the ones that are not usually sold, he eats it all and there is no waste. And the older child, if he wants more, he can eat two ”.
Camilo dos Santos
Supply of fruit and vegetables to the UAM.
The FAO supports initiatives throughout the Uruguayan food system, covering activities related to the production, processing, distribution, preparation, consumption of food, and the final disposal of waste, which have to be reduced.
As a result of these activities, nutrition is improved and, therefore, the state of health of people, their economy and the environment in which they live, the report concludes.
