Slow food como composto de práticas sustentáveis no consumo de alimentos

Abstract

Consumption patterns in the world have been known to be unsustainable for decades. Faced with this scenario, unsustainable patterns persist in critical areas of production and consumption, such as food. Sustainable consumption in this area can be associated with different meanings (e.g. eating less meat, becoming vegetarian or vegan, buying local, organic or Slow Food). Within this perspective, the relationships between production, consumption, consumers and supply systems can take place through social practices. "Social practice" refers to a domain of everyday life, such as "eating" or "cooking" (SPAARGAREN, 2003), located in space and time, in addition to being performed repeatedly (SCHATZKI, 2001). Based on the above on sustainable consumption, with an emphasis on the food domain and the Slow Food movement, and using TdP as a theoretical lens for the study of consumption, the objective of this study is to understand Slow Food as a composite of sustainable practices in the consumption of foods. In this approach, Warde (2016) argues that Slow Food (SF) can be taken as an interesting attempt to frame the constituent components in a compound and coherent eating practice. It is also a contemporary phenomenon with the capacity “to intercept and provide answers, over the years, to the concerns of the current world and the demand for critical and alternative production and consumption practices” (GENTILE, 2016, p. 66), more sustainable. To this end, a qualitative and exploratory survey was conducted with consumers attending agroecological fairs in the city of Fortaleza (people who were not affiliated with the Slow Food organization, but who could practice its principles). The initial contact was made at the fairs with the subsequent invitation to participate in the research. In addition, the snowball technique was used. The investigated practices, which constituted Slow Food as a compound, were purchasing, preparation and consumption practices. As collection techniques, semi-structured interviews, observations, field diary and photographs were used. Altogether, 13 interviews were obtained, resulting in 5h51min of recordings and a total of 75 pages of transcribed testimonials. For analysis, a thematic analysis was performed (BARDIN, 2011; BRAUN; CLARKE, 2006). The structure of elements of the practice proposed by Shove, Pantzar and Watson (2012) (i.e. materials, skills and meanings) was used to analyze the practices. Allied to this, information about Slow Food from manuals and research developed on this topic. The results showed that Slow Food, as composed of sustainable practices in food consumption, is in a proto-practice stage for each of its constituent practices (purchase, preparation and consumption). It was identified that these practices are interconnected and related to the principles and attributes of Slow Food products. Among the findings, the importance of aspects associated with emotions and affects in the study of sustainable eating practices, as identified for the study of Slow Food.