With the distribution of 500 meals, people’s movements held a protest on Tuesday afternoon (2) in front of São Paulo City Hall. The protest denounced Bill 445/23 proposed by councilor Rubinho Nunes (Union Brazil). Dubbed the "Hunger Bill", it creates rules for those who donate food to people in vulnerable situations and fines them BRL 17,680.00 (US$ 3,178) for those who fail to comply with them.
Approved in a first discussion last Wednesday (26), the text will go through a second vote before being sanctioned by Mayor Ricardo Nunes (Brazilian Democratic Movement).
With the negative repercussions, however, city councilors from Nunes' political base have declared they will probably veto the proposal before it reaches the Executive. The mayor of São Paulo himself has said he will not sanction it. Rubinho Nunes said on Monday that he will withdraw the bill from the agenda.
"It's absurd to pay BRL 17,000 because you give food to hungry people. This is unacceptable," says Auricélia da Silva, a cook at the Solidarity Kitchen of the Homeless Workers' Movement (MTST, in Portuguese) in the Perus neighborhood in the city of São Paulo. "We do give food. We get up early and go to the kitchen with all our affection," she says.
Along with the MTST, the demonstration was organized by the Landless Rural Workers' Movement (MST, in Portuguese), the Banquetaço Collective, the Street People's Pastoral, the Central of Popular Movements (CMP, in Portuguese), the Popular Youth Uprising, among other organizations.
Auricélia, a cook, was part of the protest in São Paulo / Gabriela Moncau
"We're here to put this issue on the agenda in the right way. Because, even though he backed down, what Nunes actually intended was to put this issue in the wrong way, classifying the homeless population and the people who help them as criminals," says David Zamory, from the state leadership of the MST. "The real issue is hunger, which persists in São Paulo despite it being the country's richest city," he says.
What the bill says
The bill proposed by city councilor Rubinho Nunes determines that to donate food without being fined, institutions and individuals must have authorization from the city hall, to register and submit information on where, when and how much will be distributed.
With the justification that the aim is to "guarantee the safety and well-being of the beneficiaries," the bill also determines that the people who will receive donations must be registered with the Municipal Department of Social Assistance and Development.
Rubinho Nunes, one of the founders of the Free Brazil Movement (MBL, in Portuguese), is known for engaging his followers through statements and proposals that target Father Júlio Lancellotti, the MTST and collectives that work against rights violations in the central region of São Paulo. He was the author of the parliamentary commission of inquiry that targeted organizations working in the region known as “Cracolândia”, due to the high number of people suffering from drug addiction and living on the streets.
"We are living in a moment in Brazil and around the world when the right wing uses fake news to distort reality and invert the agenda," says Zamory.
"What they've done is this: they've taken [and targeted] a concrete reality, which is people living on the streets, without a home, without food, being abused by the public service all the time instead of being welcomed," says the MST leader.
"In order not to expose that this is a failure of public power and capitalism, they create fake news affirming that the culprits are the homeless people themselves, social movements, NGOs and religious people who are trying to tackle this situation," he concludes.
"We're giving people the rights they [the government] don't give them," says Rosilene Maurício, a cook at MTST's Solidarity Kitchen in the Jardim Iguatemi neighborhood.
"They [food donors] have so many things to do, and they [Nunes and his supporters] want to act against these people. Well, let them find something else to do because we're doing very well in the kitchen by giving food to the hungry," says Rosilene.
Half a million families are hungry in São Paulo
Released in April this year, data from the Continuous PNAD survey, by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE, in Portuguese), reveal that in the state of São Paulo, there are 523,000 households where families are facing severe food insecurity.
Some don't even have a home. In the state capital alone, the number of people living on the streets has increased 16.8 times in 11 years. In 2012, there were 3,842 people; in 2023, it was 64,818. The survey was carried out by the Brazilian Observatory of Public Policies with the Homeless Population, linked to the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG, in Portuguese).
"Who goes there in the kitchens / the cooks give / tasty food, a home, work and bread," sang MTST activists / Gabriela Moncau
The figure is more than twice that presented by São Paulo City Hall in January 2022, based on a census whose methodology was criticized by the Street People’s Pastoral and other entities that support this vulnerable population. The city administration estimates that 31,884 people live on the streets of São Paulo.
"We're here because we believe in a better country," says Bárbara Cardoso, an MTST cook in the city of Santo André, part of Sõ Paulo's metropolitan region. “A country where we can feed those who are hungry. Where hunger will no longer exist.”
Edited by: Martina Medina
