Brazil dismayed by images of people foraging for food among animal remains

The footage, showing a man crouching in a container truck on top of a mountain of animal remains, bones, remains and entrails, collected from supermarkets and destined for soap and food factories for pets, were taken in Rio de Janeiro by photojournalist Domingos Peixoto, already winner of several awards.

“There are days when I want to cry,” José Divino Santos, the truck driver, told Peixoto and reporter Rafael Nascimento de Souza of the newspaper Extra.

The latter launched the photoshoot with the title: “Brazil 2021: the pain of hunger“, which caused a stir across the country.

“In the past people would ask me if I could give him a bone for the dog. Today people ask me to eat something,” Santos said.

Denise, a 51-year-old woman, confessed that she needed something to feed her five children after losing her partner.

“You don’t know how long I haven’t seen a piece of meat. It dates from before the pandemic. I’m very grateful for that, ”added the woman with giblets in her hand.

Hungry brazil

Photo: Domingos Peixoto / Agence O Globo

Extra recalled that a survey by the Brazilian Food and Nutrition Security Research Network found that More than 116.8 million people today live without full and permanent access to food in Brazil.

Among them, 19.1 million (9% of the population) suffer from hunger and live in “severe food insecurity”.

The figures show a 54% increase in the number of people suffering from food shortages compared to 2018.

In Brazil, the Covid-19, underestimated by the president Jair Bolsonaro, has caused more than 600,000 deaths.

Saturday at Rio de JaneiroThousands of people marched once again to protest against the ultra-conservative president, who is blamed for the dire situation in which the country finds itself.

Truck driver José Divino Santos, 63, in charge of transporting the meat, ensures that In recent months, the number of people asking for bones and leftovers has increased.

“Some days I come here and want to cry. Such a rich country cannot be like this. It is very sad that people are going through this situation. I feel sick. Before, people would come by and ask for a piece of bone to give to dogs. Today they asked for bone to make food. Two or three homeless people came by and took them away. There are days when there are about fifteen people, ”Divino Santos described to Forum magazine.