Photos of people searching for food among dead animals in Brazil impact

With the headline “Truck with Skin and Bones Turns into Hope for Food for the Hungry”, the newspaper Additional of Brazil published on September 29 a series of Frightening photographs of Brazilians foraging for food among dead animals in Rio de Janeiro.

The heart-wrenching photos, which have been reproduced in media around the world, were taken by award-winning photojournalist Domingos Peixoto, who even after photographing the effects of drug trafficking and poverty in Rio de Janeiro years ago , was surprised to see the Brazilians looking for food. in the garbage.

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“I haven’t slept for two days, trying to process everything. People have to cook with firewood, not just the homeless. We have to find ways to tell these stories to try to help somehow.a”said the photographer.

“In the past, people would ask me if I could give him a bone for the dog. Today people are asking me to eat, ”Santos said during the publication of the series of photographs“ Brazil 2021: The pain of hunger ”, which generated unrest across the country.

“Damn, we have to find ways to tell these stories to see if we can help in any way. “Peixoto, 57, lamented.

The footage, which has prompted thousands of Brazilians to demonstrate this weekend in Rio and São Paulo, shows a man crouching in a container truck on a mountain of animal remains, bones, remains and entrails, collected from supermarkets and destined for soap and pet food factories.

The testimonies are just as heartbreaking.

A 51-year-old woman, pictured searching for food among the corpses of her five children, said: “You don’t know how long I haven’t seen a piece of meat. It dates from before the pandemic. I am very grateful to you.

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“Young man, either we eat this or we starve. “a woman told journalist Rafael Nascimento de Souza, who covered the news with Peixoto for the Rio de Janeiro daily. “This is the reality. If that doesn’t make you angry, if it doesn’t move you, then I don’t know…” Souza said.

Truck driver José Divino Santos, 63, one of those responsible for transporting leftover meat, told the photographer that in recent months there has been an increase in the number of people requesting bones and leftovers.

“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”, Santos said.

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And he added: “Before, people would come by and ask for a piece of bone to give to dogs. Today, they are asking for bone to make food. Two or three homeless people passed by and were taken away. There are days when there are about 15 people ”.

The newspaper Extra noted in its report that a survey by the Brazilian Food and Nutrition Security Research Network found that more than 116.8 million people are currently living 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”.

According to estimates by the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) in April, 27.7 million Brazilians (12.98% of the population) are below the poverty line, located at 261 reais per month (US $ 49). In 2019, the figure was 23.1 million poor (10.97%).

According to a recent survey by the institute Technical sheet, 85% of Brazilians have reduced their consumption of certain foods this year and 67% have reduced their consumption of red meat. In addition, the consumption of dairy products fell by 46%, and rice and beans, at the heart of the national cuisine, by around 35%.

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