You have certainly heard the phrase “we are what we eat” – an apparently simple reflection, which, succinctly, summarizes the importance of thinking about food as a political and cultural act. Attributed to the “father of Medicine”, Hippocrates, the idea is not new and has disturbed human thought for thousands of years. After all, food can be a “medicine” not only for the body, but also for the soul.
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These principles have been put into practice in Brazil through a pioneering initiative, which, for seven years, has been consolidating itself with a portion of the Brazilian population that is interested not only in “eating better”, but being part of a process of conscious consumption.
Diego Gonçalves is part of the Campo Pelotas Warehouse Collective / Disclosure
Started in São Paulo, the Armazém do Campo chain of stores, which sells products from settlements and encampments of the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST), playing a role in bringing the countryside and the city closer together, is arriving in Pelotas, in the Rio Grande do Sul, and promises to contribute to the entire agrarian reform process, facilitating the access of the population, in general, to organic and agroecological food.
“The Network has the mission of trying to overcome one of the great difficulties of family farming, which is to market what is being produced, fairly, without the barriers arising from unequal competition, by market logic”, explains Diego Gonçalves , which is part of the Campo Pelotas Warehouse Collective.
Scheduled to open its doors at the end of September, the space should sell between 400 and 500 items, including organic, agroecological, clothing and handicraft products. The idea is to encompass a whole set of productions that involve not only food, but also fashion and literature.
The Campo de Pelotas Warehouse will be inaugurated in front of Praça Conselheiro Maciel, on Rua Padre Anchieta, on the corner of Três de Maio – in front of the Faculty of Law of the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel).
Campo de Pelotas warehouse will be installed in front of the UFPel Faculty of Law / Disclosure
“It will be a multiple and diverse space, which consolidates itself as a cultural synthesis, bringing together people who identify with a proposal for a more just, fraternal and solidary society”, explains Diego, emphasizing that the Armazém will also provide a space for artistic presentations, with emphasis on the appreciation of Brazilian and Latin American popular culture. “We are going to make possible moments of fraternization and social interaction based on a collective vision of non-oppression, of valuing freedoms and combating all forms of prejudice and discrimination”, he emphasized.
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Partnership with unions
Already in its second – and penultimate – phase of execution, the project to implement Armazém do Campo, in Pelotas, today has an initial stage completed, with the finalization of adjustments to the physical structure of the environment, such as the painting parts , plumbing and lighting. But, while all the bureaucratic procedures are being resolved to legalize the project, the Coletivo do Armazém do Campo Pelotas continues to act and has paid visits to historic partners in family farming.
Directors of the Bank Employees Union met with the Collective to learn more about the proposal and think about ways to contribute / Disclosure
This is the case of the Bank Workers’ Union, which, at the beginning of this month of August, met with the Collective to learn more about the proposal and think of ways to contribute to its consolidation as soon as possible.
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“We understand the importance of this national network for the marketing of organic products for our city, because, in addition to the sale of food that is the result of the Agrarian Reform, it will be a collaborative environment, where various activities will be carried out to enhance the local culture, opening up more a socializing environment for Pelotas workers, where we can fraternize with bank colleagues”, evaluated Lucas da Cunha, director of Communication and Culture of the Union.
* Journalist for the Union of Bank Workers in Pelotas and Region
Source: BdF Rio Grande do Sul
Editing: Katia Marko
