Slow Food practices in Brazil: analysis of the relations with the everyday spaces of hospitality and tourism in southern Brazil

Abstract

Slow Food is an international movement that advocates the enjoyment of food associated with socially and environmentally responsible food production. Brazil has 65 Slow Food convivia scattered across its territory. The main objective of this research is: to analyze Slow Food and its relationship with the everyday spaces of hospitality and tourism in Brazil. This is a qualitative study using structured questionnaires with 30 items organized from the analytical categories: place, contiguous area of hospitality, identity, solidarity action, permanencies, freedom, and sovereignty. The research object is 13 convivia located in the southern region. The main results are: the actions of the movement are based on networks, conviviality, and various solidarity actions, evidenced by the voluntary participation of members in various projects, denoting direct relations of hospitality. There has been centralization of resources and information by Slow Food International and little support for the local scale. Relationships with tourism were indirect, namely, through the inclusion of products in the distribution chains of convivia members, but there are actions and projects based on the retrieval of knowledge, strengthening of places, identity affirmation and enhancement in the social food space.