Common pots: how they are affected by the rise in food and paralyzation

Common pots are an effort by civil society to address situations of vulnerability, food insecurity and situations of natural disasters. However, in the face of the economic and social crisis facing our country, these aid programs have also been severely affected.

Infobae Peru spoke with Natalia Manso Álvarez, Professor at the Universidad Pacífico Business School, who gave us an overview of how much the current inflation crisis affects these women's organizations that struggle to feed their families every day.

How do common pots arise in our country and how many on average exist?

According to information from the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima, as of June 2020, 1,812 common pots had been registered. Unlike the popular canteens, behind which there are NGOs and State institutions, the common pots are an independent and temporary popular initiative that has only been recognized in February 2021 following the food desperation caused by pandemic unemployment. However, the women who manage these dining rooms and pots, are not seeing their needs met.

How are the popular dining rooms and common pots getting ahead in the face of the rise of the basic family basket?

The number of rations per dining room, and the nutritional value and quantity thereof, are being reduced, protein products such as chicken, meat or fresh fish, due to carbohydrates and packaged proteins, as well as fewer fruits and vegetables.

How are common pots and popular dining rooms distributed?

According to the Minister of Midis, Dina Boluarte, in statements in January of this year, there is currently the Mankachay Peru platform (Mi ollita Peru), which was created with the aim of ensuring that the State has a single register of common pots (updated and geo-referenced). To date, there are 3024 common pots registered nationwide, of which 2095 correspond to 29 districts of Metropolitan Lima.

How many families on average do common pots and popular dining rooms feed by area?

Currently, the dining modality represents 85% of the existing care centers in the Food Supplementation Program (PCA), with 10,979 operational canteens registered to date, which provide care to 575,941 users nationwide.

The registration of ordinary pots is more imprecise. According to data from the Office of the Ombudsman in September 2021, of the 103 municipalities that responded to its survey nationwide, only 25% counted with a register of common pots, which is equivalent to 26 pots. Of these, 54% are concentrated in Lima and Callao. Of the 2,140 pots identified by these municipalities, it is estimated that 165,219 people attend.

In the face of the crisis generated by rising prices, has the nutritional value in common pots been reduced?

The food products distributed have a more objective of satisfying hunger than of establishing a balanced diet, which contravenes public policies that refer to healthy eating.

The president of the National Confederation of Women Organized for Life and Integral Development said that “we receive food from the PCA, but it is a very basic percentage, which is 200 grams per serving. This is not equal to the 50% that is needed; then we have to supplement that with all the shortcomings that arise.”

In addition, the food products that are distributed are mainly based on carbohydrates and packaged products, while, to a lesser extent, oats, quinoa, milk or meat products that provide a greater nutritional contribution are distributed. Low-cost protein such as chicken and bonito have also become unattainable for eaters.

According to the MINSA Dietary Guidelines for the Peruvian Population, based on the recommendations of the World Health Organization, the World Health Organization (WHO), a minimum of 400 grams of fresh fruits and vegetables per capita should be consumed daily, recommendation which is the antipodes of the resources of any popular dining room or common pot in Peru.

A few days ago, Pedro Castillo, during the inauguration of a school, asked to strengthen the popular canteens. Is there any government initiative?

Pedro Castillo may forget that the right to food is a fundamental human right, recognized by several international treaties and also, Sustainable Development Goal number 1, of the 2030 agenda of which Peru is a signatory. It is therefore the responsibility of the State to ensure the basic food of its population.

In addition, Law 31315 and the Constitutional Court recognize that access to subsistence food is an obligation of the State for those who do not have the possibility of obtaining it by their own means.

No more popular dining rooms will open

According to the President of the Association of Common Pots, the budget has fallen considerably due to lack of donations, and they do not receive aid from the State.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

The president of the Common Pots Network of Metropolitan Lima, Fortunata Palomino, said that when Pedro Castillo's government started the budget for this network amounted to S/ 99.6 million, but to date S/ 54 million has been received. This decline, he said, harms many common pots that do not receive concrete support, leaving many Peruvian families short of food.

“The budget is very little because there are 54 million that they have allocated. This amount will only reach a few districts and only to serve ordinary pots for a couple of weeks. This is not only for pots, but for vulnerable people,” he told Exitosa a few days ago.

“Sometimes you only cook one plate of food a day, because breakfast is no longer enough. The drink is boiled water and mostly eaten stews. We get a small fraction of it to ordinary pots. That is why we have had a meeting of the installation of the multisectoral commission to be able to raise all these needs and that decree 1472 is changed, and that a rule is made so that common pots benefit directly to their budget,” he said.

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