Food quality perceptions and agreements: Case of local purchases from family farmers for school feeding program in the Federal District of Brazil

Abstract

The perceptions of economic actors suggest different conventions of quality that influence the coordination of economic activities. Therefore, we analyzed how perceptions of quality, shared by different school feeding actors, shape or maintain economic coordination norms in the case of local purchases from family farmers for the National School Feeding Program (PNAE) in a large urban center in the Federal District (DF) of Brazil. Considering the theory of conventions and using the Iramuteq software, the contents of 35 interviews with public education actors, family farmers, and rural extension technicians were analyzed. The results revealed that local purchases in the DF promoted food democracy, reconciling several coordinating worlds that maintained and shaped the quality standards of the PNAE. Producers and consumers shared some common conventions; however, conflicts existed between industrial and domestic conventions in particular. It was concluded that besides enabling an inclusion of the local family agriculture in the market, this format provides superior food quality to students, contributing to shape the market with better food quality. Furthermore, this study advances the understanding of the perceptions of the actors in the different links of this chain and provides subsidies for the program to get closer to its goals of providing high food quality to students. In addition, the study aims to boost family farming and promote local development.