Perceptions and profile of users of the food provision program: Prato Cheio’s Card

Abstract

Despite the reduction in Food and Nutrition Insecurity (FNI) in Brazil, 27.6% of the population still experiences some degree of FNI. In the Federal District, the Cartão Prato Cheio program was implemented to reduce FNI among socially vulnerable families. The program provides a card for the exclusive purchase of food for 9 months, serving approximately 100,000 families. Despite its scope, there is a lack of information on the impact of the aid on households. The objective of this study is to describe the perception of the impact on nutrition and the profile of the users interviewed. This is a cross-sectional, quantitative and qualitative study, with analysis of information from the social assistance network of the Federal District and semi-structured interviews with program users. The following categories emerged from the results of the interview: experiences without the aid, changes in nutrition with the use of the card, and experiences with the program. An improvement in the quantity and quality of food was observed; however, this improvement is still insufficient to fully meet the needs of the household. The majority of the interviewees were female (66.7%), black (64.2%) and had low levels of education (42.9%). It was possible to infer that the program is well allocated and contributes to alleviating the FNI in the Federal District, but it is still insufficient to guarantee food and nutritional security for the entire socially vulnerable population in the Federal District.