In their new article, Wright and Piperata explore the challenges of using Brazil’s standardized food insecurity scale (EBIA) in Parque das Tribos, a multiethnic, peri-urban Indigenous community in Manaus. Through focus group discussions, they found that the EBIA’s complex language created confusion and feelings of exclusion among participants, especially those with limited Portuguese proficiency. Additionally, the scale’s emphasis on monetary access to food failed to reflect the community’s reliance on non-monetary sources like gardening, fishing, and food sharing. The concept of a fixed household also conflicted with the community’s fluid living arrangements and communal eating practices. Wright and Piperata recommend adapting the EBIA to include simpler, culturally relevant language, alternative terms for food access, and translations into Indigenous languages like Nheengatu, while preserving its core structure to maintain comparability across regions.
 

Read the full article here on the Journal’s Website 

Image: Ecology of Food and Nutrition Website