Study of food accessibility in two rural municipalities of Matanzas province, Cuba

A study was conducted in the Colon and Marti municipalities -in Matanzas, Cuba-, in order to determine the level of food accessibility by the population. The analyzed indicators were: availability based on the offer in the sale points in all the people's councils and the total sales of the municipalities. For such purpose a total of 100 persons were interviewed, including farmers and customers, who were represented, proportionally, in 100% of the people's councils (six in Marti and ten in Colon). A total of 49 sale points were visited in the two municipalities. Regarding the most offered products, vegetables occupied the first place with more than 30% of the total offer, followed by fruits and roots and tubers, with 21 and 19%, respectively; then meats appeared with 10%, and rice with an offer of 5,6% with regards to the total. Beans were last, with only 3,4%. It is concluded that the offer of food products accessible for the population of the Marti and Colon municipalities is still poor in quantity, quality and variety. Nevertheless, it is possible to solve this situation in two ways: on the one hand giving priority to the quantity of foodstuffs that satisfy the demands; and on the other hand, increasing the production variety and quality through the installation of irrigation infrastructure, and by utilizing idle or deficiently used land. Keywords: foodstuffs, human nutrition, food consumption.