La feria como estrategia de comercialización de alimentos orgánicos y agroecológicos. Dos experiencias en Valparaíso, Chile

The structure and operation of the hegemonic agri-food system proposes important challenges to familiar agriculture. Due to it is being excluded from the agribusiness parameters, it is (re) building alternatives that allow it to differentiate itself from the dominant production and distribution logic. These alternatives would seek to recover the lost autonomy and sovereignty, by which men and women farmers undertake a transition towards productive and commercialization systems that value local knowledge and capacities, re-signifying the social and cultural importance of agricultural practice. As part of this transition, ways of doing and thinking would be reconfigured from their divergence, and are capable of re-appropriating techniques and knowledge that, historically, have been sustainable and harmonious with the territory. In this scenario, our research was developed under a sequential exploratory mixed design, with the prevalence of the qualitative approach, using the census and the interview as data collection techniques. Through a descriptive study, the aim was to understand and analyze the productive and organizational processes that underlie the fair as a commercialization strategy for organic and/or agro-ecological experiences. The area studied was the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. The main findings revealed that the emergence of these experiences, within the framework of deep processes of exclusion and socioeconomic fragmentation, can be interpreted as small outbreaks of resistance, that would reflect the search for logic based on principles of cooperation and reciprocity, reconfiguring the relationships that are established with nature and recreating a bond with the consumer that goes beyond the economic. From that consideration, the fair space transcends its economic function and would represent a social and cultural meeting place, which makes visible and vindicates the knowledge and practices of family agriculture.