From fish and bushmeat to chicken nuggets: the nutrition transition in a continuum from rural to urban settings in the Tri frontier Amazon region

Abstract

The current contribution of wild animal proteins has been poorly quantified, particularly in the rapidly growing urban centers of tropical forests. Lack of such evidence impairs food security strategies to include the diversity of food supply inherent to traditional food systems. In this study we focus on wild sources of animal protein: wild fish and bushmeat, which have traditionally been important in people's diets in the Amazon. We compare the consumption of wild and non-wild (domestic, processed) sources of animal proteins in a rural to urban gradient in the Colombian Amazon. In rural areas, most people are indigenous from the Ticuna ethnical group, while in urban areas, the population is a result of a mixture of different indigenous groups, mestizos and colonos. Our results show that, despite its geographical position, the region is increasingly dependent on domestic and industrialized sources of animal protein. The frequency of wild fish and bushmeat consumption decreases from rural to urban areas to the advantage of domestic and processed meat/fish. Patterns of animal protein consumption for indigenous children indicate that indigenous families adopt non-indigenous consumption patterns when they move to town. Bushmeat consumption in urban areas is more frequent in wealthier families and could be considered as a luxury product. In urban areas, chicken is the protein of the poor and beef replaces chicken for the families that can afford it. In rural settings, chicken replaces wild sources of animal protein as people increase their income and move away from forest/ agriculture dependent livelihoods. Despite, the low importance of bushmeat and wild fish in urban areas measured in terms of consumption frequencies, we show that these foods continue to play an important role in terms of dietary diversity, which is fundamental to eradicate energy and micronutrient deficiencies. The increased consumption of industrial chicken in rural communities poses important food security issues because it provides less nutritional balance than wild foods and access to this protein is dependent on the availability of cash in rural communities. While the harvest of wild proteins poses a sustainability problem, industrial foods also carry a heavy ecological footprint. In conclusion our results call for a better attention to the changes observed in diets in the Amazon, given their potential food security and ecological consequences.

The role of game mammals as bushmeat In the Caatinga, northeast Brazil

“…Our results suggest that there is potential to increase hunting in open areas and during dry seasons, although dense vegetation with little anthropogenic disturbance is preferable for hunting specific mammals. Studies have demonstrated that peri-urban hunters commonly recognize different types of habitats for several purposes, and despite hunters' preferences for mature forest, disturbed forest has higher hunting pressure due to proximity of communities and villages, whereas mature and dense forest are more distant (Fa et al 2002, van Vliet and Nasi 2008, Mesquita and Barreto 2015. Moreover, in the Brazilian semiarid region as well as in several regions of the world, the use of motorized vehicles has been practiced not only by hunters but also by specialized middlemen in the illegal trade of bushmeat, so this contributes to overexploitation of many game species besides deforestation of the remaining vegetation of biomes (Juste et al 1995, Fa et al 2006, Di Bitetti et al 2008, Read et al 2010, Mockrin et al 2011.…”

Cultural attitudes are stronger predictors of bushmeat consumption and preference than economic factors among urban Amazonians from Brazil and Colombia

“…The first step consisted of supplying self-administered questionnaires, which included a survey of meat consumption (domestic and wild) over 24 hours and information about household assets to estimate wealth (see van Vliet et al 2015a), to pupils (12 to 16 years old) from 11 schools. The survey was repeated in the wet and dry seasons; a total of 886 children in the dry season and 1046 in the wet season were questioned.…”

Trophic relationships between people and resources: fish consumption in an artisanal fishers neighborhood in Southern Brazil

“…All these findings call attention to the ongoing process of change in the livelihood and subsistence of all coastal communities that generates a gradual reduction in the perceived availability of fish for these populations. In both rural and urban areas, changes in the way people depend of food such as fish, towards an increasing dependence of industrialized sources of animal protein can alleviate the pressures on wild species, but can have other consequences for local livelihoods and for food security, also contributing to a heavier ecological footprint (Van Vliet et al 2015). However, production of other sources of animal protein can also indirectly threat other wild species, for example, as a consequence of deforestation for livestock production.…”