Short circuits of ecological food supply as strategy of peasant (re) existence

redemption of place and community ties

Abstract

This preliminary study, part of the PhD work in Geography in progress, aimed to understand how farmers have used the channels of short circuits to survive the difficulties and pressures exerted by the food and agribusiness empires. We are witnessing a process in which food empires try to impose the rules of production and distribution and food relegating a secondary role to the peasantry. These historically create strategies to resist and survive the imposed adversities. The emergence of the short circuits of production and distribution of organic food has been presented as part of these strategies of resistance and balance between work and consumption in the life of peasants. We used semi-structured questionnaires and the interview technique to answer our initial question. We see that there is a diversity among the producers that compose the short circuits studied, regarding infrastructure, difficulties in production and distribution, and strategies of resistance and survival. The main survival strategy used is related to the bonds that are established in the place. They are relations of solidarity between producers, between producers and consumers and between producers and support groups of teachers, students and sympathizers who are more aware, not based on the market, based on ecological principles of utility, solidarity and friendship, despite the fact that presence of conflicts and contradictions.