ALTERNATIVES THAT TRANSFORM LIVES: the role of the family farming products fair in São Lourenço do Oeste / SC

Abstract

The interaction between product and consumption beyond the conventional formats imposed by globalization is the problem of this study. It aims to analyze how the fair and family farming products in the municipality of São Lourenço do Oeste/SC are alternatives to the global agri-food system. A survey carried out was used as methodology. Data collection was carried through semistructured interviews applied to a producer and consumer marketer, chosen at random. It is learned that family farming, due to its capacity for adaptation and resistance, in addition to being inserted in the context of the global agri-food model, is also able to establish itself in alternative modes of production and commercialization, such as fairs, from the characteristics of the Alternative Agrifood Networks that it shares and holds the potential to perform. According to the information collected, the fair is established as a space for connecting the expectations of producers and consumers, enabling quality of life for both and constituting an alternative process to the large globalized markets. The female protagonism stands out both in the knowledge used in the production of the marketed food and in the family income provided by the fair.