Priscila Rangel
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - The Minister of Social Development and Hunger Alleviation, Patrus Ananias, announced, yesterday (19), that US$ 14.7 million (R$ 38 million) have been allocated to the construction of 55 community restaurants in the country. This initiative represents one of the components of the Zero Hunger Program.

The purpose of the non-profit Community Restaurant Solidary Network Program is to ensure low-income families the right to meals that are cheap and adequate in terms of quality and quantity. The community restaurants serve about two thousand balanced meals daily. Each meal costs US$ 0.39 (R$ 1). US$ 7.9 million (R$ 20.5 million) were spent last year to implant the program's 30 restaurants.

The secretary of Food and Nutritional Security, José Giacomo Baccarin, said that the program is directed at the 224 Brazilian municipalities with over 100 thousand inhabitants. "In the bigger cities people have a harder time returning home for lunch," the secretary explained.

Besides promoting food security, the program is intended to stimulate vegetable gardening, combat waste, and create spaces for nutritional education and socialization.

To continue to develop the project, the federal government plans to increase the number of its partnerships with state governments, civil society, and firms.

Translation: David Silberstein