Food consumption practices among families

displaced by internal armed conflict,

settled in Bogotá Colombia.

*Angie Marcela Bejarano Riveros

Forced Internal displacement is a social situation that has a physical and emotional impact
on people's lives. Colombia is the second country with the largest number of internally
displaced people in the world with a figure of 6.5 million by the end of 2017 (Internal
Displacement Monitoring Center & Norwegian Refugee Council, 2018). Most victims of
displacement come from rural areas and they settled in cities. The adaptation process to the
environment requires changes in lifestyle and loss of quality of life. The main objective of
this study was to investigate and describe food consumption practices before and after forced
displacement. Through a qualitative methodology, the discourse of five women victims of
forced internal displacement settled with their families in the town of Bosa, Bogotá, was
analyzed and theorized. Through semi-structured interviews, the information was collected
and systematically analyzed with the N-vivo software, following the analysis of the grounded
theory. The findings revealed that obtention of food and consumption practices changed
radically. Prior to displacement, the nutrition was characterized by food acquired through
agricultural activities such as cultivating and plowing, the sources of protein were diverse
and abundant, the food preparation used to be traditional and it was normal to have three
meals a day. Currently, food consumption is characterized by the decrease of daily rations,
the purchase of most foods and the consumption of cheap meals. The main source for
obtaining food is through state subsidies, school or community dining rooms and the
collection of food waste in market places. As a result of this complex and multi-faceted issue,
new consumption practices emerge affecting food safety, quality of life and increasing the
social exclusion.
Keywords: Displaced, consumption practices, food consumption, displacement, food,
family consumption, social exclusion.

International Displacement Monitoring Center & Norwegian Refugee Council (2018).

Global Report On Displacement. Recovered from: http://www.internal-
displacement.org/global-report/grid2018/downloads/2018-GRID.pdf