Regional foods in Brazilian school meals

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify regional foods and analyze its use on school menus of a Brazilian city, as well as the respect to symbolic and cultural aspects related to it. Design/methodology/approach – The study was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, regional foods were identified through interviews with key school meal and city agents. In the second stage, the inclusion of these foods in school menus from 2009 to 2013 was assessed. Findings – In total, 142 regional foods were identified and classified into four groups. This classification resulted in a decision tree model to identify regional foods. Approximately 45 percent of regional preparations and 82.5 percent of regional foods were offered totaling 455 preparations and 977 foods analyzed. However, 31 percent of the regional foods identified in Stage 1 were not offered in the menus analyzed. Various regional preparations lost their authenticity, possibly not being recognized because of a lack of traditional ingredients or because they contained non-regional foods that changed their character. Practical implications – The results mainly point to symbolic aspects of the production and consumption of regional foods and preparations that are important to promoting healthy diets. In addition, they can support public policies that promote the use of these foods in the school environment. Originality/value – This study analyzes the inclusion of regional foods in school meals--a topic rarely explored in the scientific literature – and proposes a decision tree model to identify regional foods with methodological rigor. This model can assist school food managers in including regional foods and developing studies related to this topic.

Labeling of packaged foods in Brazil: Use of terms such as homemade, traditional, and the like

“…Faced with the consequences of the mechanization process, people once again value what is produced by people or that seem to be produced by them [37]. Similarly, regional kitchens have been decharacterized [38] as a result of progressive globalization, demonstrating the need to recover gastronomic heritage and to value traditional flavors [39].…”

Oferta de preparações culinárias e alimentos regionais e da sociobiodiversidade na alimentação escolar: um estudo na Região Sul do Brasil

“…No entanto, alguns estudos em municípios brasileiros identificaram baixa oferta de alimentos regionais na alimentação escolar [30,31] . O estímulo ao consumo de alimentos e preparações culinárias regionais no âmbito da alimentação escolar é uma tarefa complexa devido à falta de consenso sobre quais alimentos e preparações representam a cultura alimentar e os hábitos alimentares locais [32] . Além disso, a lista de alimentos regionais apresentada no documento oficial existente [33] é demasiadamente municípios e estados devem ser utilizados na compra de alimentos da agricultura familiar [25] .…”

“…Além disso, a lista de alimentos regionais apresentada no documento oficial existente [33] é demasiadamente municípios e estados devem ser utilizados na compra de alimentos da agricultura familiar [25] . abrangente e inespecífica, podendo não retratar a realidade local [32] .…”

“…Esses estados são subdivididos em dez, seis e sete mesorregiões, respectivamente, totalizando 23 municípios. Os critérios para a seleção dos municípios por mesorregião foram intencionais e com base na experiência prévia das autoras em pesquisas sobre aquisição de alimentos para a alimentação escolar e alimentos regionais [24,32,35] .…”

Institutional Markets for Family Agriculture: Analysis of the Food Acquisition Program (PAA) and the National School Feeding Program (PNAE) within a Territory in the Brazilian Amazon1

“…Brazil is regarded as a successful case of programs based on family farming food acquisition for social initiatives and schol meals (Fabri et al, 2015;Mendonça and Rocha, 2015). Like the other countries in Latin America, in Brazil, the food acquisition programs, especially the PNAE, at its inception, acquired its supplies based on the availability of donations of food resources by other nations, such as the United States, and programs such as the Public Law (PL) 480.…”