ADEQUATE AND HEALTHY FOOD ON THE BELÉM CAMPUS OF THE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF PARÁ: A CASE STUDY OF INSTITUTIONAL ACTIONS AND PROGRAMS AIMED AT STUDENTS AND CIVIL SERVANTSAbstract
The right to food is inherent to the human being, therefore inalienable and independent of any legislation. However, the recognition of this right in norms, agreements, declarations and other instruments is important to ensure its enforceability by the holders and compliance by the State. In 2014, the Ministry of Health updated the new version of the Food Guide for the Brazilian Population, which is one of the national strategies to promote adequate and healthy food that integrates the National Food and Nutrition Policy, aiming to provide individuals and the community with dietary practices appropriate. Thus, the general objective of the research was to analyze how UFPA develops actions and programs to encourage and control adequate and healthy eating by students and employees at the Campus of Guamá in Belém, having as a parameter of analysis the national guidelines for the development of healthy eating habits. In this way, the research carried out was based on multiple case study techniques in a quantitative and qualitative approach, in which a bibliographical and documental survey was carried out. It was concluded that UFPA develops programs and actions to promote adequate and healthy food, with emphasis on the university restaurant aimed at promoting student food policy, however it was found that in relation to servers, actions to promote nutritional health do not achieve the results proposed by the Server Health and Safety Attention Policy (PASS).
Keywords:
adequate and healthy food; public policy; UFPA
Resumo
O direito à alimentação é inerente ao ser humano, por isso inalienável e independente de qualquer legislação. Entretanto, o reconhecimento desse direito em normas, acordos, declarações e outros instrumentos é importante para assegurar sua exigibilidade pelos titulares e o cumprimento pelo Estado. Em 2014, o Ministério da Saúde atualizou a nova versão do Guia Alimentar para a População Brasileira que é uma das estratégias nacionais de promoção da alimentação adequada e saudável que integra a Política Nacional de Alimentação e Nutrição, objetivando proporcionar aos indivíduos e à coletividade práticas alimentares apropriadas. Assim, o objetivo geral da pesquisa foi analisar de que forma a UFPA desenvolve ações e programas de incentivo e controle a uma alimentação adequada e saudável por alunos e servidores no Campus do Guamá em Belém, tendo como parâmetro de análise as diretrizes nacionais para o desenvolvimento de hábitos alimentares saudáveis. Dessa maneira, a pesquisa realizada foi embasada nas técnicas de estudo de caso múltiplo numa abordagem quantiqualitativa, na qual foi feito o levantamento bibliográfico e documental. Conclui-se que a UFPA desenvolve programas e ações de promoção a uma alimentação adequada e saudável, com destaque para o restaurante universitário voltado à promoção da política alimentar estudantil; entretanto, verificou-se que em relação aos servidores as ações de promoção da saúde nutricional não atingem os resultados propostos pela Política de Atenção à Saúde e Segurança do Servidor (PASS).
Palavras-chave:
alimentação adequada e saudável; política pública; UFPA
Resumen
El derecho a la alimentación es inherente al ser humano, por lo tanto inalienable e independiente de cualquier legislación. Sin embargo, el reconocimiento de este derecho en normas, acuerdos, declaraciones y otros instrumentos es importante para asegurar su exigibilidad por parte de los titulares y el cumplimiento por parte del Estado. En 2014, el Ministerio de Salud actualizó la nueva versión de la Guía Alimentaria para la Población Brasileña, que es una de las estrategias nacionales de promoción de una alimentación adecuada y saludable que integra la Política Nacional de Alimentación y Nutrición, con el objetivo de proporcionar a los individuos y a la comunidad prácticas alimentarias adecuadas. Así, el objetivo general de la investigación fue analizar cómo la UFPA desarrolla acciones y programas para incentivar y controlar la alimentación adecuada y saludable de los estudiantes y empleados del Campus de Guamá en Belém, teniendo como parámetro de análisis las directrices nacionales para el desarrollo de hábitos alimentarios saludables. De esta forma, la investigación realizada se basó en múltiples técnicas de estudio de casos en un enfoque cuantitativo y cualitativo, en el que se realizó un levantamiento bibliográfico y documental. Se concluyó que la UFPA desarrolla programas y acciones para la promoción de una alimentación adecuada y saludable, con énfasis en el restaurante universitario dirigido a promover la política alimentaria estudiantil, sin embargo se constató que en relación a los servidores, las acciones para promover la salud nutricional no alcanzan los resultados propuestos por la Política de Atención a la Salud y Seguridad del Servidor (PASS).
Palavras clave:
alimentación adecuada y saludable; política pública; UFPA
1 INTRODUCTION
According to Burlandy and Magalhães (2004), the right to food as an inherent human right, therefore universal, is a concept that emerged in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 and was reiterated at the World Food Summit held in Rome (1996). Thus, the right to food becomes a desirable prerogative for any human being, but for this right to acquire materiality, nationally constituted public policies are necessary.
Within universities, guaranteeing this basic right contributes to improving the work performance of staff, as well as the academic performance and retention of students in the university, in a scenario of democratization of higher education where students in situations of socioeconomic vulnerability are increasingly accessing higher education in Federal Education Institutions, leading to the implementation and improvement of public policies for food and nutritional security on campuses (Mussio, 2015).
According to Mussio (2015), food, as well as education, is a social right to be guaranteed by public policies, with the educational environment being conducive to the development of actions in this regard. Commonly linked to basic student assistance, when it comes to higher education, there is little elaborated knowledge about its practice because the National Student Assistance Program (PNAES), aimed at students of Federal Institutions of Higher Education (IFES), is relatively recent, unlike food in basic education which gained space more than 50 years ago, which makes studies on food in higher education important for the production of knowledge and the elaboration of public policies in this area.
Thus, the present article aims to understand how the Federal University of Pará (UFPA) develops institutional policies to promote food security on the Main Campus located in the Guamá neighborhood in Belém, based on the understanding that adequate and healthy food is a fundamental right inherent to the physical, mental, and social development of individuals.
Given this premise, the following question arose: how are actions aimed at encouraging and controlling adequate and healthy food offered to students and staff carried out at UFPA, aiming to develop healthy eating habits? To answer this question, the research was based on the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO), the 2014 Food Guide for the Brazilian Population; the National Food and Nutrition Policy – PNAN, the National Food and Nutritional Security System – SISAN (instituted by Law 11.346/2006 – Organic Law of Food and Nutritional Security), the National Food and Nutritional Security Policy – PNSAN (instituted by Decree 7.272/2010), the PNAES (instituted by Decree 7.234/2010) and the Integrated Subsystem of Attention to Employee Health – SIASS (instituted by Decree 6.833/2009).
Thus, the research work had the general objective of analyzing how UFPA develops programs and actions to encourage and control adequate and healthy food for students and staff on the Belém Campus. For this, the specific objectives were: to systematize information on actions and programs to promote adequate and healthy food for students and staff by UFPA; to seek to establish the ideal criteria for adequate and healthy food according to national and institutional normative parameters of UFPA; to analyze the conformity of the Institution's actions and programs in guaranteeing adequate and healthy food based on legal foundations.
2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.1 Adequate and healthy food according to national and institutional normative parameters of UFPA
According to Paiva et al. (2019),From the 21st century onwards, within the scope of public policies for food and nutrition and for food and nutritional security, there was a change from the term "healthy eating" to "adequate and healthy eating", with this expression gradually being used in scientific and institutional publications. This resulted from a movement aimed at understanding human food beyond valuing its nutritional content, because adequate eating encompasses other dimensions such as culture, pleasure, habits, commensality, regionality, ethnicity, gender, access, sustainability, and biodiversity.
Thus, "adequate and healthy eating" represents the confluence of expressions addressed by different groups. The term "adequate eating" was emphasized in the extinct Ministry of Social Development and Fight Against Hunger, while the term "healthy eating" was adopted by the Ministry of Health, with the combination being the result of debates in the field of food and nutritional security with discussions in the field of food and nutrition regarding the polysemy of the notion of food, reflecting the dual issue of hunger/obesity in Brazil (Paiva et al., 2019).
Having made this brief clarification about the term adequate and healthy eating, it is necessary to explain that such a term is intimately linked to the concept of food and nutritional security, whose promotion guidelines in Brazil are established in Law No. 11,346 of September 2006, which created SISAN. Thus, Article 3 of the Law defines food and nutritional security as the realization of everyone's right to regular and permanent access to quality food, in sufficient quantity, without prejudice to other essential needs, based on food practices that promote health with respect for cultural and environmental diversity and sustainability (Brazil, 2006).
Also noteworthy is Article 4, VI, which evokes the need for "implementation of sustainable and participatory public policies and strategies for food production, commercialization, and consumption, respecting the multiple cultural characteristics of the Country".
Article 2 of the aforementioned Law defines that adequate eating is a fundamental right, and this precept was ratified by EC No. 64 of 2010, which included food in the list of social rights in the caput of Article 6 of the 1988 Federal Constitution. In this way, adequate eating is a fundamental human right, inherent to human dignity, and it is up to the public power to develop policies and actions to promote and guarantee the food and nutritional security of the population. Decree 7,272 of 2010 regulated Law No. 11,346/2006, establishing the National Food and Nutritional Security Policy (PNSAN), which includes among its guidelines universal access to adequate and healthy food with permanent processes of food and nutritional education (Brazil, 2010).
Therefore, the realization of the Human Right to Adequate Food (DHAA), elevated to the status of a fundamental right in the Brazilian legal system, requires the adoption of sustainable policies and strategies for the production, distribution, access, and consumption of safe and quality food, in order to promote adequate and healthy eating at all federal levels (Leão, 2013).
Given the above, it can be affirmed that the realization of the right to adequate and healthy eating involves the development of public policies both at the level of federal entities and within the scope of the various institutions that make up their structures, with attention to regional and cultural needs, since SISAN aims to ensure that the public power, with the participation of organized civil society, will formulate and implement policies, programs, and actions to enable the realization of the right to adequate food in harmony with other fundamental rights.It is worth mentioning that the WHO's definition of adequate nutrition is one that promotes the recovery of healthy eating habits and regional food practices for the consumption of minimally processed foods, with high nutritional value, attentive to dietary patterns according to different life cycle stages, preserving color, flavor, and access (Brazil, 2005).
In Brazil, the guidelines for adequate and healthy eating are established by the National Food and Nutrition Policy (PNAN) and the Food Guide for the Brazilian Population, which is based on WHO recommendations and adheres to the guidelines of the Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health. According to the Guide, adequate and healthy eating is a human right whose realization occurs through the guarantee of regular and permanent access to food compatible with the individual's social and biological aspects, covering special dietary needs, with culture as a reference and considering the dimensions of race, gender, and ethnicity (Brazil, 2014).
According to PNAN, adequate and healthy eating is a dietary practice appropriate to the biological and sociocultural aspects of individuals and the sustainable use of the environment. This definition means that food must be accessible, in sufficient quantity and quality; be in accordance with different life cycles and unique dietary needs; respect cultural references; be based on sustainable productive practices with minimal amounts of physical, chemical, and biological contaminants. In this sense, initiatives to promote adequate and healthy eating aim to improve the quality of life of the population through broad intersectoral actions that can respond to health needs, contributing to the reduction of overweight, obesity, chronic diseases, and others related to food and nutrition (Brazil, 2013).
The Food Guide for the Brazilian Population also provides information and guidance aiming to promote the health of Brazilian families and communities through food choices. The Guide's ultimate premise is: always prefer in natura or minimally processed foods; always choose culinary preparations instead of ultra-processed ones. Thus, the Guide's classification establishes an inverse relationship between healthier food and more processed food. But the Guide goes further and incorporates commensality into the idea of adequate and healthy eating, that is, the importance of eating in an appropriate place and, whenever possible, in company, giving food the space it deserves by valuing cultural and social aspects (Brazil, 2014).
However, the National Survey on Food Insecurity in the Context of the Covid-19 Pandemic in Brazil (II VIGISAN) indicates that Brazil has more than half of its population (125.2 million people) living with Food Insecurity (FI) in different degrees: mild, moderate, or severe. There are 33.1 million Brazilians in a state of hunger (severe FI) and six out of ten in mild or moderate FI (difficulty accessing food in sufficient quantity and quality). Moderate or severe FI affects 46.2% who cannot maintain foods that form the basis of the Brazilian diet: beans, rice, meats, vegetables, and fruits (REDE PENSSAN, 2022).
Given this scenario and starting from the understanding that Food Security means having the guaranteed right to adequate and healthy food, which is nothing more than permanent access to food in sufficient quantity and quality to maintain a life with dignity and health without giving up other rights, it is inferred that in Brazil, 60% of the population does not have this right assured and the Food and Nutritional Security Law (Law 11.346/2006) does not fulfill its purpose.
This food insecurity in Brazil intensified during the Covid-19 pandemic with the social distancing measures it imposed, leading,according to Sousa and Diniz (2024), an adaptation of public education institutions in the face of evident food insecurity among students who only eat daily meals at educational units. Thus, initiatives such as the distribution of basic food baskets and student aid were assertive in promoting food security and equity during this period.
In the institutional sphere of UFPA, in addition to general national guidelines, two important policies guide actions and programs aimed at food security for students and staff: the National Student Assistance Program (PNAES), established in 2010 by the federal government through Decree No. 7.234/2010, which has the "purpose of expanding the conditions for young people to remain in federal public higher education", with the development of actions in different areas, including food (art. 3º, § 1º, II) (Brazil, 2010). And Decree No. 6.833 of 2009 which instituted the Integrated Subsystem of Attention to the Health of Federal Public Servants (SIASS) defining actions and programs in three areas: assistance; official expertise; promotion, prevention and health monitoring (Brazil, 2009).
Thus, the promotion of student food security at UFPA occurs through food and nutrition actions according to Resolution n. 828/2021 of the University Council (CONSUN) which approved the Institutional Policy of Student Assistance and Accessibility (PINAE) of UFPA, in line with the PNAES guidelines. In fact, Resolution n. 828/2021 includes among its objectives to provide the university community with quality, balanced and low-cost food, within food and nutritional security standards and prioritizing the permanence and integral development of students in socioeconomic vulnerability of the Institution (UFPA 2021a).
As for civil servants, the Policy of Attention to Health and Safety at Work of the Federal Public Servant (PASS) involves actions to promote the health of the civil servant at the workplace in three axes: assistance, expertise and surveillance and health promotion. This last axis advocates that transformative actions be developed in work contexts, capable of positively impacting the health of civil servants. Thus, UFPA develops, through the Pro-Rectory of Personnel Development and Management (PROGEP), a set of actions for health promotion, disease prevention, assessment of work capacity and surveillance in workplaces, with the purpose of promoting the integral health and safety of the civil servant aiming at their quality of life and the Institution's social responsibility with the internal community.
3 METHODOLOGY
The adopted methodology was a multiple case study with a qualitative and quantitative approach, whose research field was the Main Campus in Belém of UFPA, being outlined in four phases: case delimitation; data collection; data selection, analysis and interpretation; report elaboration.
Data collection involved an integrative bibliographic review, made possible through digital research platforms (Capes Periodicals, Scielo, Google Scholar, Capes Theses and Dissertations Catalog and UFPA Institutional Repository), focused on studies on food security, adequate food, healthy eating, public servant feeding, student feeding in higher education, students in situations of socioeconomic vulnerability and university policies on campus feeding.
Field research included direct observation and informal conversations with food vendors in the main food commercialization spaces of the basic and professional sectors of UFPA (ver-o-pesinho and the restaurant of the Center for Advanced Amazonian Studies – NAE). Data was collected through open interviews with representatives of the Directorate of Student Food Services (DISAE), of the Superintendence of Student Assistance (SAEST),from the Directorate of Security (DISEG) through the Coordination of Control (CC), from the Directorate of Health and Quality of Life (DSQV) through the Coordination of Quality of Life and Well-being at Work (CQVT), and from the Pro-Rectory of Extension (PROEX) with the person responsible for organizing the Family Farming Fair project.
A semi-structured interview method was also used through a questionnaire sent via email to DISAE, which responded to the requests by sending the answers also electronically. Here it is necessary to clarify the unnecessity of approving the work by the ethics committee because the interviews conducted did not involve personal opinions, but technical information about the dynamics of the programs and actions under an institutional, not personal, perspective of the interviewee.
Furthermore, a documentary review was carried out, collecting information on national norms and guidelines regarding adequate and healthy food on official government websites – Ministries of Citizenship, Education, and Health; collecting documents related to the topic at UFPA: campus prefecture, PROGEP, PROEX, Pro-Rectory of Administration (PROAD), Pro-Rectory of Planning and Institutional Development (PLOPAN), and analyzing the annual activity reports from 2016 to 2021 of SAEST and DISAE.
The method used to process the data was Bardin's (2016) content analysis, composed of three phases: pre-analysis, material exploration, and results treatment (inference and interpretation).
According to Sampaio and Lycarião (2021), the use of content analysis in public policy studies has proven relevant, as this methodology is capable of generating data and interpretations that can synthesize, compare, and test hypotheses from different types of texts, such as statutes, meeting minutes, and field notes. In addition to documents, other frequently recurring types of materials are interviews and forms.
Thus, the research involved the concepts of food security, adequate and healthy food, and the study of public policies to promote the development of healthy eating habits for university students and public servants in higher education, which implied a transdisciplinary approach using theoretical bases from law and health sciences, especially nutrition. For this purpose, during the research development, various documents (laws, resolutions, decrees, public notices, normative instructions, UFPA's Institutional Development Plan (PDI), reports, and guides), social media, and journalistic publications from UFPA on its portal were analyzed.
Finally, a Deductive Diagnostic Analysis of the case was carried out based on bibliographic and documentary frameworks, interpreting the collected data.
4 CASE STUDY DESCRIPTION
UFPA's Belém Campus has approximately 24,000 students enrolled in various undergraduate courses. In stricto sensu postgraduate studies, the campus has approximately 7,000 students enrolled in master's (academic and professional) and doctoral courses (UFPA 2022a). According to the Association of Leaders of Federal Institutions (ANDIFES), there is a new profile of UFPA students. There is greater access for low-income students, Black, Pardo, and Indigenous individuals, and those from public schools due to the Quota Law (Law 12.711/2012), which expands vacancies for these populations. The majority of students have a per capita family income of up to one and a half minimum wages, configuring a situation of socioeconomic vulnerability (Oliveira, 2019).
UFPA develops various actions, projects, and programs aimed at assistance in several areas promoting students' social rights, such as housing, digital inclusion, accessibility, etc. However, this work only addressed programs aimed at meeting food demands, whether for students in situations of socioeconomic vulnerability,as well as all those who carry out academic activities on the Belém campus and, therefore, need to eat in the different spaces reserved for this purpose.
The University has a workforce of 5,379 employees, distributed between faculty and technical-administrative staff. Of this total number of employees, approximately 66% are located at the Guamá Campus in Belém, with 1,791 faculty members in Institutes and Centers and approximately 1,700 technical-administrative staff (UFPA, 2022b). PROGEP develops different actions and programs aimed at the physical and mental health of employees, but following the research objectives, only the work developed in the area of nutritional health was analyzed.
Considering the information collected in the field research with the Campus prefecture, there is a daily average of 10,000 people who seek some type of food on the UFPA Belém Campus. As the University Restaurant (RU), which is the reference for safe, healthy, and balanced food at an affordable price, has an average of 6,000 meals in its daily production, there is a demand for 40% more food sought in other spaces such as the “ver-o-pesinho” and the NAEA restaurant, which are also under the Institution's responsibility.
In 2015, after the closing of a public notice for the acquisition of food for the RU and after hearing the farmers, the University proposed the creation of the Family Farming Fair on the Guamá Campus in Belém. The fair began as a service providing healthy and quality food to employees and the community around the Campus, in addition to being a way to generate income for these farmers (Souto; Silva, 2022).
In 2018, the Pro-Rectory of Extension (PROEX) transformed the fair into a multidisciplinary program, with actions involving various faculties (Economics, Food Engineering, Administration, Accounting), the Amazonian Institute of Family Agriculture (INEAF), the Institute of Education Sciences (ICED), and the Institute of Technology (ITEC).
However, the main policy for promoting student food at UFPA is the RU, whose management is by SAEST through DISAE, which aims to guarantee students the human right to adequate food, through food and nutrition services, in order to contribute to addressing social inequalities, collaborating for the permanence and completion of higher education (UFPA, 2021a). Thus, we will present the institutional programs Taxa Zero, Emergency Food Aid, and the University Restaurant Program (PRORU).
4.1 Taxa Zero and Emergency Food Aid
The Taxa Zero Program, regulated by normative instructions issued annually, serves students in high socioeconomic vulnerability, with free meals (lunch and dinner) at the RU Belém Campus. Normative Instruction n° 08/2022 SAEST/UFPA defines that Taxa Zero is part of the actions of the Pedagogical Support Program (PROAP), which consists of a set of permanent didactic-pedagogical services to assist undergraduate students in vulnerable situations, contributing to equity and expanding opportunities in the performance of academic and scientific activities, reducing the rate of university retention and dropout (UFPA, 2022c).
In the table below, it is possible to verify the expansion of the program over 6 years.
The data in table 1 show a progression in the number of students benefiting from Taxa Zero, with a growth of 626% from 2016 to 2019. The decrease observed from 2020 to 2021 occurred due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which required the closure of the RU from March 19, 2020, to February 16, 2022, leading SAEST to adopt a new policy for student food aid: the Emergency Food Aid.
Thus, the UFPA launched Public Notice No. 05/2020/SAEST/UFPA in June 2020 for the granting of Emergency Food Aid to students in situations of socioeconomic vulnerability, during the period of suspension of in-person activities on campuses and university restaurants, offering 1,500 aids valued at R$ 150.00 so that students who met the criteria established in the public notice could subsidize food expenses (UFPA, 2020a).
Due to the containment measures of the Covid-19 pandemic and the closure of the University Restaurant (RU), the Emergency Food Aid, which began in 2020 with 1,500 (one thousand five hundred) aids, was expanded, as can be seen in the table below. In 2021, 6,969 (six thousand nine hundred and sixty-nine) aids were granted, benefiting 791 (seven hundred and ninety-one) UFPA students.
From the above, it is understood that the Emergency Food Aid was an important welfare policy that addressed a moment of exceptionality in the academic context, mitigating the social damages that the pandemic brought to UFPA students, especially for those most affected by food insecurity, thus reinforcing the Institution's role in promoting social rights and mechanisms for student retention at the university.
4.2 University Restaurant Program (PRORU)
The University Restaurant Program (PRORU) is part of the student assistance policy axis – Student Food, being financed by PNAES. It has been active since October 1, 1993, and was born with its physical structure designed for 1,200 meals, but currently prepares and distributes around 6,000 daily meals between lunch and dinner (UFPA, 2021b). The standard of the menus offered is maintained with varied and first-quality food items (rice, beans, meats, vegetables, fruits, and greens). The price charged for undergraduate and postgraduate students is R$ 1.00 (UFPA, 2020b). The average cost of meals served at the UFPA University Restaurant was R$ 9.20 (nine reais and twenty centavos) in 2019, being subsidized by PNAES resources by 88.46%.
The objective of PRORU is to provide the academic community with balanced and quality food, ensuring a balanced and healthy meal, contemplating food safety, in accordance with food safety policies, current hygienic-sanitary legislation, and ANVISA standards (UFPA, 2019b).
Thus, PRORU seeks to provide students with the human right to adequate and healthy food, contributing to the fight against social inequalities, collaborating for permanence and completion in higher education, and for the integral development of students in socioeconomic vulnerability at the Institution.
The table below shows data indicating a constancy with a tendency towards growth in the services offered by the RU, which were interrupted by the atypical moment of the Covid-19 pandemic (UFPA, 2021c).
It was found that PRORU at UFPA is an effective strategy to guarantee food security by promoting adequate and healthy food for university students, also being open to servers with cost adaptations prescribed by external and internal norms.
Thus, in compliance with the provisions of the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU), which prohibited the provision of subsidized meals to servers and outsourced personnel of Federal Higher Education Institutions, in accumulation with the payment of aid/food vouchers, in 2021 UFPA set the price at R$ 10,00 the meal value in the RU for these categories.
4.3 The UFPA Server Nutritional Health Program
Data from the UFPA Management Report indicate that 2,146 servers participated in health and quality of life actions promoted by the Institution in 2021. Among these, 234 servers received nutritional assessment and guidance (UFPA, 2022a), with 72 being faculty and 162 administrative staff. In addition to individualized care, quality of life and social responsibility actions in the field of nutrition involved lectures with 20 servers participating and web conferences with 63 servers participating (UFPA, 2022b).
It was found that PROGEP's actions for server quality of life at work also include nutritional guidance; however, at the moment, PROGEP's work regarding server nutritional health is focused on promotion and prevention, unable to provide followup.
These promotion and prevention actions occur when the team from the Health and Quality of Life Directorate (DSQV) goes to institutes and centers to give lectures and training, where individualized care circuits are also conducted with nutritional assessment and bioimpedance, in addition to quicker guidance. In this way, collective or individual actions are carried out at the servers' workplaces.
At PROGEP's facilities, demands for nutritional assessment originating from the UFPA User Service System (SAGITTA) are met, where the server schedules the assessment via the system. In these appointments, the nutritionist performs a complete nutritional assessment with bioimpedance, anamnesis, and, if necessary, an eating plan is developed aiming for better habits. The objective is to develop promotion and prevention actions to improve quality of life and longevity.
The biggest difficulty in developing the actions, according to the DSQV nutrition professional, is the low adherence of servers to the programs. However, professionals are available; but, at PROGEP, there is only one nutritionist. The Directorate is available for requests from institutes and there are also intervention actions initiated by PROGEP in the institutes, but there is still a lack of adherence from managers.
4.4 The "ver-o-pesinho" and the NAEA restaurant
UFPA has several small spaces selling meals and snacks within the Main Campus in Belém. The most well-known and frequented by the academic community are the spaces called "ver-o-pesinho", one in the basic sector and another in the professional sector of the Campus.
The legal instrument that regulates the use of small food commercialization spaces at the university is Resolution No. 1.202, of April 25, 2005, which approves the Plan for the Use of Small UFPA Spaces by private individuals for fixed, itinerant or stationary commercial exploitation, understood as those measuring equal to or less than 4 m² (four square meters) located in the external areas of administrative buildings and classrooms (UFPA, 2005).
Inspection is the responsibility of the Security Directorate (DISEG) in partnership with DISAE, and this work includes promoting awareness among merchants about the importance of hygiene and product safety standards, through training with the issuance of a food handler's card. However, due to the lack of servers, inspection cannot be ostensive, thus, there is a deficiency in promoting the consumption of adequate and healthy foods in these spaces.
UFPA also houses larger meal sales spaces that undergo a bidding process for their concession, such as the NAEA restaurant, which measures approximately 352 m² between the distribution area and the cafeteria. The space offers meals at a differentiated price compared to other spaces surveyed within the University, but, taking into account the prices practiced by local businesses in Belém,is quite attractive. The justification for the concession of the space by UFPA, according to the Terms of Reference that preceded contract 2016-23073.038528/2014-15 of 2016, in force during the period of research development, is the importance of providing an alternative for the university community and visitors to have meals in less time and with more menu options.
According to DISAE, the basic indicators for the menu aim to reduce ultraprocessed foods and align with the Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population. The technical team's interference is to ensure that the menu offers options that add more health, requiring the minimum to guarantee the proper functioning of the service and meet the Institution's interests, but there is still the presence of ultra-processed foods, such as soft drinks; what was done was to reduce and establish options that can enable the consumption of healthier foods if the consumer is interested.
It is possible to verify that UFPA is concerned with offering the university community adequate and healthy food, within rigorous sanitary standards, and for this, it has a specialized technical team to supervise the company contracted for the NAEA restaurant.
Thus, the field research found the presence of the requirements of the terms of reference regarding the nutritional variety of the menu, workers' clothing, conservation of exposed and unexposed food, adequacy of furniture and utensils, however, deficiencies were observed in the cleaning and conservation of the building regarding walls and windows, a failure of the company in fulfilling the contract, whose terms of reference in item 9.2.12 states that it is the contractor's responsibility to "maintain, at its own expense, the cafeteria strictly clean and tidy, as well as tables, chairs, walls, windows, doors and floors within a high standard of cleanliness and hygiene..." (UFPA, 2015).
4.5 The UFPA Family Farming Fair
UFPA develops the multidisciplinary extension project Family Farming Fair. The program aims to give visibility to family agricultural production units by improving the quality and volume of their products, allowing them to generate income; promoting good practices of production, consumption, and marketing; valuing the fair space as a locus of research and interdisciplinary training; encouraging the consumption of healthy food by the academic community; and establishing partnerships between civil society and academia (UFPA, 2018).
The fair takes place every Thursday at the Vadião Cultural Complex, bringing together rural producers who sell pesticide-free fruits and vegetables at lower prices. Under the administration and organization of PROEX, the project contributes to strengthening family farming by encouraging family farmers to market their production directly to consumers, a beneficial relationship for both parties. The products offered include: cheeses and derivatives, vegetables and legumes, roots, fruits, various fruit pulps, poultry and derivatives, fish and seafood, flours, artisanal products, processed goods, and ornamental plants (Souto; Silva, 2022).
Field research found that, at consumers’ request, typical dishes of Pará cuisine are sold on the day of the fair, and natural pharmaceutical products are also marketed. According to the PROEX staff member responsible for organizing the project, the focus is on food security, with the program strengthening due to the media attention it has gained. In April 2023, the estimated audience at the fair on the Guamá Campus was 569 people.
There is also encouragement for these producers to participate in the Food Acquisition Program (currently Programa Alimenta Brasil) in the Institutional Purchase modality to supply food to the University Restaurant.
It is clear that UFPA’s engagement with family farming producers positively reflects its institutional role in promoting public policies and executing extension programs and projects that bring the benefits of consuming healthy, pesticide-free food at affordable prices to the university community and the surrounding campus area, while also improving the quality of life for small producers who can market their products and earn income, thus promoting changes in people’s lives and closer ties between academia and civil society.
5 DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
5.1 Compliance of UFPA’s actions and programs
The research found that there are several actions aimed at promoting safe, adequate, and healthy food for students and staff at UFPA, some more successful than others when compared to the guidelines to which they are subject.
Programs like Taxa Zero, in addition to following the national guidelines of PNAES, constitute a promotion of social justice, as they provide academic quality of life and food security through offering varied and balanced meals using quality products in good condition so that students have access to meals appropriately. Therefore, the importance of the Taxa Zero aid is notable in enforcing social rights, promoting food security for vulnerable UFPA students, and encouraging adequate and healthy eating in line with the Food Security Law and PNAES.
The Emergency Food Aid was also an important assistance policy that addressed an exceptional moment in the academic context, mitigating the social damage the pandemic caused to UFPA students, especially those most affected by food insecurity, thus reinforcing the Institution’s role in promoting social rights and mechanisms for student retention at the university.at an unusual moment of RU functionality impediment, with the transfer of PNAES financial resources to students in order to promote student food at the University in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a Brazilian scenario marked by food insecurity, with the North Region topping hunger indices, and given the increasing number of students in socioeconomically vulnerable situations present at UFPA, it is understood that the RU is essential to provide these students with a more welcoming academic environment, which will reflect in good student performance indices, reinforcing the importance of offering adequate and healthy food for students' permanence at the university.
The research found that the RU is a great option for healthy food at an affordable price on the Belém Campus for students and staff because, being non-profit, it promotes balanced, low-cost, safe food with good acceptance that meets the nutritional needs of its users. The RU adopts a menu monitored by a team of nutritionists, in line with the guidelines of the 2014 Food Guide for the Brazilian Population and the National Food and Nutrition Policy, prioritizes natural or minimally processed foods, complies with hygiene and safety standards, respects individual particularities and choices by offering a vegetarian option on the menu, as well as providing a suitable space for communal dining.
However, the RU at UFPA Guamá Campus needs an expansion of the production area or the construction of a new production space, in addition to acquiring new equipment, due to increased demand and the natural wear and tear of existing equipment. Other challenges identified include demand fluctuations according to variations in the academic calendar and market price changes of products, even though contracts are signed every 6 months, which makes it difficult for suppliers to provide the goods.
Regarding institutional policies aimed at staff, UFPA develops, through PROGEP, actions promoting staff nutritional health, following the guidelines of PASS and SIASS. For this, there is a multiprofessional team, and the work is carried out with the aim of implementing promotion and prevention actions to improve quality of life and longevity; however, PROGEP’s work in relation to staff nutritional health is focused on promotion and prevention, unable to carry out the follow-up work foreseen in PASS.
Although there is a nutrition professional to meet the individual and collective demands of the Institution, the service faces difficulties regarding managers’ adherence to encourage the participation of staff from Institutes and centers in collective actions such as lectures and workshops. There is also a lack of infrastructure for better individualized care because the nutrition professional has access to a room for this work only 2 times a week.
The UFPA 2021 Management Report defines among future actions regarding personnel management “an increase in the number of health promotion and prevention actions in its various aspects, in order to provide greater support to staff, generating better quality of life and potential reduction of possible diseases.” (UFPA, 2022a). Thus, it is up to managers at the level of Institutes and Centers to coordinate with DSQV actions for Food and Nutrition Education for staff as a strategy to improve the quality of life of this group and prevent illness according to PASS guidelines.
Although the RU is essential in promoting food and nutritional security on the Guamá Campus in Belém, it cannot meet the entire demand for food, especially for non-students, so other food selling areas are necessary. However, it was observed that Resolution 1.202 of 2005 from CONSAD does not define nutritional quality criteria for foods to be sold in small spaces; there is only an explicit prohibition on the sale of alcoholic beverages and a requirement for a health and food handler’s license to request commercial operating permission, meeting the requirement set by the Health Surveillance, but it does not align with the guidelines of the Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population.
As for the NAEA restaurant, the reference term preceding the contract presents basic indicators of the menu to be offered, which follows the guidelines of varied food, minimally processed, with options of unprocessed foods. In addition, compliance with the technical hygiene and safety standards of the Health Surveillance is required, such as RDC No. 216 of 2004 from ANVISA and other legal instruments. The Institution is concerned with providing the university community with adequate and healthy food in this space, within sanitary standards and with a menu according to the Dietary Guidelines; for this, it has a specialized technical team to supervise the contracted company.
In fact, the field research confirmed the presence of the reference term’s requirements regarding nutritional variety of the menu, workers’ clothing, storage of exposed and unexposed food, adequacy of furniture and utensils; however, deficiencies were observed in the cleaning and maintenance of the building.
Regarding the Family Agriculture Fair extension project, the Institution’s support gives visibility to small producers, essential actors in promoting food security and adopting healthier eating practices, while also valuing the cultural and regional aspects of the local population’s food choices. It was found that both the academic community and the external community to the Campus attribute a positive character to the fair for promoting access to organic and quality products at lower prices, which is reflected in the number of people who attend the UFPA family agriculture fair every Thursday.
This type of project is foreseen in Law 11,346/2006 (Food Security Law) in its art. 4, I, which states that food and nutritional security includes expanding access conditions to food, especially from family and traditional agriculture. UFPA’s action also aligns with the SISAN guidelines (art. 9, I) for promoting intersectorality of governmental and non-governmental policies, programs, and actions (Brazil, 2006).
It is necessary to emphasize that, although the Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population recommend avoiding ultra-processed foods, according to Castro (2015) the promotion of adequate and healthy eating involves the understanding that eating is a social practice with a political dimension evident in the choice of what to eat or not eat based on its environmental, social, and economic implications. Hence the importance of public policies that encourage and facilitate healthy choices, while protecting the population from unhealthy choices through measures such as advertising control, food labeling, regulation of school cafeterias, and taxation of certain products.
Thus, IFES faces the challenge of carrying out actions aimed at adapting the food consumed by the academic community, in line with the proposals of the National Food and Nutrition Policy (PNAN) and the Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population, assuming responsibility for promoting health and also fostering food and nutrition education strategies on the university campus.
6 FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
It is concluded that the programs and actions to promote adequate and healthy eating at UFPA partially contribute to the food security of students and staff on the Guamá Campus in Belém.The University Restaurant Program and the Family Agriculture Fair Project stand out positively as means of access to adequate and healthy food for the academic community.
However, the nutritional health promotion actions specific to staff do not achieve the results proposed by the Health and Safety Attention Policy for Staff (PASS). A broader institutional perspective is needed regarding the promotion and encouragement of adequate and healthy eating for this audience. It was also found that there is a need to optimize the oversight of small food consumption spaces on campus with an update of Resolution No. 1,202 of 2005, according to the guidelines of the Food Safety Law of 2006 and the Food Guide for the Brazilian Population of 2014.
Finally, it should be noted that despite the effort made in the research to address the research question and considering such a broad, complex, and important topic as this one studied here, it was not possible to tackle all the interfaces that the issue of food within the academic context presents, especially considering the diversity of subjects involved in the research.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank the UFPA professors and staff who contributed in some way to the research and development of this work.
Data availability
The data supporting this study are not publicly available. They can be requested directly from the authors, with justification.
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Editora de Seção:
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