A transição alimentar de uma família açoriana em Santa Catarina

Abstract

Introduction: Transformations in consumption and eating habits in Brazil from the second half of the twentieth century were significant. Population groups stopped consuming traditional foods and started to adopt industrialized products, resulting in the abandonment of subsistence agricultural practices in rural and peri-urban areas. Modernity, characterized by industrialization, urbanization and rural exodus, has impacted food patterns. The changes led to the loss of the food tradition based on fresh, local and seasonal foods, and the replacement of agroecological practices by intensive farming methods. On the Brazilian coast, the introduction of tourism and the opening of territorial borders led to globalization for traditional communities. The proposed study focuses on the history of the transformation of the eating habits of a family in Guarda do Embaú, on the coast of Santa Catarina, since the introduction of tourism in the region. Objectives: to tell the story of the food transition of the Leal da Silveira family and understand how the arrival of tourism impacted consumption and cultivation habits in the community. Methods: Case study through Generic Qualitative Research, with contributions from ethnography, using semi-structured in-depth interviews as a field instrument. Results: The arrival of tourism in the community provided opportunities for paid work, which led the family to abandon self-growing and adopt modern food. Conclusion: The entry of tourism in the community provided opportunities for paid work and options for food stores, which made the family abandon self-growing food and adopt modern food. What we eat is determined by a number of factors, most of them outside our control. In the case of the family, there wasn't a moment of decision: What happened were the contingencies of life. Food has changed because life has changed, on a massive global scale that does away with local borders.