Objective

To analyze the perception of hunger and food shortage in families benefiting from MANA (Food and Nutritional Improvement) food programs in Vigía del Fuerte, Colombia.

Methods

Qualitative research, using focused ethnography as a method for collecting information. Individual interviews and discussion groups were used.

Results

Even though the communities that live by the Murrí River basin are protected from physical hunger due to the constant availability of plantain or musa, hunger is associated with the absence of meat or liga and the fact that they feel forced to eat empty musa. They also refer to hunger as the feeling of uneasiness caused by headache and stomachache.

Conclusions

Despite the fact that the communities of Vigía del Fuerte have access to plantain throughout the year, thus protecting them from physical hunger, they do not consider it as food that could calm their hunger and free them from scarcity. This happens because its presence as the only food available reminds them, precisely, that they lack certain conditions and feel hunger.