Saberes e práticas alimentares de marisqueiras da Ilha de Itaparica/BA e sua relação com a saúde

Abstract

Artisanal fishing is carried out by autonomous producers, whose production is intended for their own consumption and the local market. The artisanal fishing activity is expressive for the Brazilian economy. Despite their importance, many small-scale fishing communities live in conditions of exclusion. The shellfish gatherers are women who bear the marks of ethnic-racial disparities in their lives and whose lives are marked by socioeconomic vulnerability, exposed to precarious working conditions and various health risks. In this sense, the objective of this study is to relate the knowledge and eating practices of shellfish gatherers on the Island of Itaparica with their working conditions and health status. The study used a qualitative, descriptive, analytical approach. Semi structured individual interviews were carried out and the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale was applied. The analysis of the narratives was carried out based on hermeneutics dialectics. The results revealed that the artisanal fishing provides artisanal fisherwomen with basic supplies for subsistence, however precarious working conditions compromise their quality of life and negatively affect health conditions, as well as food and nutritional insecurity, which is a reality among fisherwomen, even artisanal fishing being a direct and indirect method of access to food. It is concluded that it is necessary to understand the work process with the artisanal fishingand their respective relationships with the conditioning aspects of the health/disease process, aiming at an inclusive approach to health care and worker health surveillance, to provide the necessary support to this population, as well as the creation of institutional policies for this category of workers, as well as the identification and characterization of the determinants of the various forms of food and nutritional insecurity, in order to encourage the elaboration and implementation of public policies to combat hunger and the poor.