Ribeirinho Food Regimes, Socioeconomic Inclusion and Unsustainable Development of the Amazonian Floodplain

Abstract

Through examining changes in food acquisition and alimentary habits, this paper critically explores Amazonian sustainable development. The changing of alimentary habits is a strong indicator of changes in perceptions, uses, and engagements with nature in the Amazon, providing a useful vehicle for examining the gap between the myths of sustainability and the reality of rapid urbanization and changing livelihoods in the contemporary Amazon. We argue that a political ecology of food regimes in the Brazilian Amazonian floodplain—drawing on anthropological and geographic approaches and insights—provides a privileged vantage from which to illuminate the contradictions of current development trajectories and the socioenvironmental disparities they engender, potentially contributing to the articulation of more effective sustainable development and social inclusion policies.

Keywords

• food regime
• political ecology
• ribeirinhos
• Amazonia