O regime agroalimentar corporativo: questionamentos sobre a materialização do açaí ultraprocessado no século XXI

Abstract

Based on the theory of agri-food regimes, we investigated the materialization process of food in the current corporate agri-food regime, coordinated by the spirit of financialization. In this sense, in the first part of the research, we developed a review of the state-of-the-art literature on agri-food regimes, as well as highlighting, mainly, two phenomena: flex crops and ultraprocessed foods. We understand that through the articulation between these phenomena it becomes possible to map structural elements of the materialization process of food in the 21st century. In the second stage of the research, we propose a case study on the Agro-industrial Complex of Açaí (Euterpe Oleracea Mart.), based on a case study method. The construct starts from the characteristics that an agricultural crop must contain in order to become a financialized commodity. Among several natural, historical and cultural elements that the culture of Açaí is immersed in, we highlight a main contradiction: why Açaí is consumed as a minimally processed food with high nutritional values in the Northern region of Brazil and, in other regions of Brazil and of the world, is it consumed as an ultra-processed food (Mix of Açaí)? To justify the elements of a financialized agricultural commodity, the following structures were analyzed: the agro-industrial complexes, the future market, flex crops, land markets and land grabbing, ultra-processed foods, and public policies. Therefore, we point out that there is a direct interaction between the corporate agri-food regime, the financialization and flexibilization of agricultural crops, the production of ultra-processed foods and the expansion of Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), such relations are incentive or constrained by public policies. This research is positioned in the field of Food Sovereignty and Security.