O consumo de orgânicos e a produção de sentidos em uma feira de Fortaleza-CE

Abstract

The present research proposes to understand how the consumption of organic products and the production of meanings take place at the AOAD – Association for Organic Agricultural Development, which takes place on Tuesdays, from 5 am to 1 pm, at Pine nuts market, in Fortaleza/CE. The organizing group, initially a CSA (DAROLT, 2013), Community that Supports Agriculture, born in 1997, since 2011 works as a producer association that uses the open-air market as a marketing channel for its production. As a methodological strategy, we opted for the ethnographic method with participant observation of the field, in addition to employing two complementary techniques, the application of questionnaires with open and closed questions and in-depth interviews (ANGROSINO, 2009; BIZERRIL, 2004; GUBER, 2001). Based on the understanding of communication as an interactional device and the concept of circulation (BRAGA, 2010, 2012, 2017), consumption as a platform for the production and transmission of meanings and meanings from the social environment to individuals (BARBOSA, 2006; MCCRACKEN, 2015) and the establishment of the consumer as a social actor (CANCLINI, 1999; ECHEGARAY, 2012; FONTELLE, 2017; PORTILHO, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2009) the consumption practices of the AOAD market and how they produce meanings were investigated. It was noticed that the fair is an important space of affection (MAFFESOLLI, 1998) and that, through sociabilities (SIMMEL, 1983) and rituals (PEIRANO, 2003), subjects appropriate and re-elaborate the symbolic contents that circulate in that market. environment. Through the interviews and responses to the questionnaire, it was possible to perceive that consumers share the understanding of organic as a clean food, use the space and this product as a means of building their own lifestyle and join struggles related to various activisms. Producers, in turn, fit the profile of neo-ruralism (BRANDEMBURG, 2010; GIULIANI, 2019) because they are in the countryside by choice, and also try to build a specific lifestyle. Finally, we realize the multidimensional potential (AGAMBEN, 2005) of organic, at the same time we realize that there are aspects of this product not explored at the fair and that could empower consumers if they were more approached by the organizers and disseminated among those who attend the place, reinforcing the bonds between these subjects. KEYWORDS: Organic, Market, Consumption, Circulation, Senses