"Responses to 1980s economic crisis in five Mexico City slums indicate that inhabitants reduced protein-caloric intake, increased labor participation in the informal sector, sold non-essential goods, borrowed money and food, and reduced all non-essential purchases. Describes nutritional consequences of food changes. Offers useful evaluation of government programs providing assistance to the poor such as the Centros Populares de Abasto, run by Compañía Nacional de Subsistencias Populares (Conasupo) and its distributors Dicconsa and Liconsa"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 57.