Collaborative construction of a virtual agroecological fair between family farming and federal higher education institutions in the state of Goiás-Brazil

Alternative food networks have emerged in recent decades as a bottom-up social phenomenon and consist of food provision initiatives that seek to operate outside globalized industrial supply chains that incorporate the values of social justice, environmental sustainability, community health and democracy. In this sense, the present study aimed to analyze the contributions that the virtual agroecological fair action plan between family farming and federal institutions in the state of Goiás-Brazil brought to family farmers. The methodology is characterized by an action research both by the character of the collaborative construction action plan of an agroecological fair, and by the structure of development in which the insertion of authors is guided by the permanent collection of elements of the practice and, also, for the development of small interventions that help to elucidate the problems detected, through problematization and theoretical deepening. The Virtual Agroecological Interinstitutional Fair is held in an interinstitutional and collaborative way with family farmers with the appreciation of family farming of ecological Goiás basis and culminates in a path that enhances more sustainable territorial development with income generation, weaves an alternative for food supply and the promotion of the alternative food network “from the countryside to the city” in the face of socio-environmental rationality, in addition to a fairer and more equitable society, with the enhancement of biodiversity and the offer of food produced in the face of ecological practices.


Introduction
The Brazilian food pattern follows developed countries and constitutes a dependent and interconnected system between supply, demand, niche markets, large marketing networks and meets the interests of world economic policy (Monteiro et al, 2013;Litre, et al, 2014), promoting various territorial changes in the supply of food, such as enhancing the regional agricultural potential, strengthening long production chains, increasing the distance of consumers throughout the food production process; replacing fresh foods by ultra-processed industrialized products, standardizing taste and monotony in the choice of food. This system corroborates for an unhealthy diet and with a health risk factor (Monteiro et al., 2013;Brasil, 2014;HLPE, 2017aHLPE, , 2017b and mainly in the rural area, family farming practices are replaced by agro-industrial complexes, industrialization of agriculture leading to a change in the agricultural profile and the agrifood system according to capitalist rationality, being characterized by the characteristics of intensive use of chemical/agrochemical inputs, technologies and mechanization in production processes, subsidies of agricultural credits to agroindustries, companies of machinery and production of ultra-processed industrialized foods (HLPE, 2017a(HLPE, , 2017bBarros, 2018).
Agriculture industrialization generates greater vulnerability for family farmers, which makes it more difficult to enforce human rights and accentuates the difficulty of access to goods, services and public policies, stimulating the rural exodus coupled with the lack of qualifications to meet the needs of technological modernization, in addition to the environmental impact caused by the expansion of agricultural frontiers with a significant increase in deforestation, putting all biodiversity at risk (HLPE, 2017a(HLPE, , 2017b. In this sense, it is necessary to overcome the industrial agrifood system, recognizing ecological practices in the production and trade of food, inserting local products present in the territories, adding the flavors and knowledge of family farmers (Lamine, 2008;HLPE, 2017aHLPE, , 2017b. In Brazil, 77% establishments with agricultural production are family farms, with 67% occupation in the rural area representing 23% national agricultural production. The state of Goiás has the lowest percentage of family farming establishments to the detriment of those using conventional practices of industrialized agriculture, with an emphasis on monocultures, livestock, and poultry (IBGE, 2017). The focus of production runs through the binomial agriculture and proexport industry, with the strengthening of agro-industrial complexes driven by the globalization of capitalist agriculture anchored in agribusiness (Barros, 2018).
Alternative food chains (AFNs) have emerged in recent decades as a population claim (Barbera & Dagnes, 2016;Berti & Mulligan, 2016) and consist of food provision initiatives that seek to operate outside industrial globalized supply chains (Forssell & Lankoski, 2017) that incorporate the values of social justice, environmental sustainability, community health and democracy (Levkoe, 2011;Matacena, 2016). Farmer markets are the most traditional form of alternative food chains, but more innovative models have started to spread, as food centers and group buyers, always backed by reciprocity between farmers who produce and consumers. These interactions converge with the socio-environmental and multidimensional rationality of sustainability as political, cultural, economic, ethical, and social (Darolt et al, 2016).
Foods in natura are the basis for healthy eating (Brasil, 2014), strengthens the immune system and contributes to the protection of health (Brasil, 2020e). In addition to the nutritional and biological value, the food production process should foster the most sustainable, fair and equitable agri-food systems (HLPE, 2016(HLPE, , 2017bGoodman, 2009), leading to Food and Nutritional Security (FNS) (HLPE, 2016(HLPE, , 2017bGoodman, 2009). In this context, healthy eating assumes a fundamental role in the period of the global coronavirus pandemic . According to the weekly newsletter in February 2021, from the World Health Organization (WHO), COVI-19 was responsible for the death of 2,457,026 people worldwide, of these 316,221 were in Brazil (WHO, 2021).
The pandemic of COVID-19 caused political, social and economic consequences, widened inequalities, causing greater food and nutritional insecurity, especially for vulnerable populations, such as blacks, traditional and rural communities living in peripheries (Tang et al., 2020;Wenham, et al., 2020), potentiating Brazil's return to the hunger map (Oliveira, et al., 2020). In view of this, there is a challenge to achieve Food and Nutritional Security in the face of the pandemic through the food production process, with economic, regular and permanent access to quality food, in sufficient quantity, without compromising other essential needs (Brasil, 2006). Based on the problem question "what were the advances and challenges identified by farmers in participating in the Agroecological Interinstitutional Fair?" action research Rapid Participatory Emancipatory Diagnosis (RPED) method was applied. This represents a method that makes it possible to identify the challenges and possibilities with family farmers in the face of territorial specificities (Pereira, 2001). Its premise is the action-reflection-action trinomial according to the theoretical framework of education (Freire, 1989), idealized to be applied in rural communities. It is an instrument of problematization and intervention that dialogues with family farmers, public institutions and an interdisciplinary team. The application encompasses the entire systematic process that deals with the identification of the problem until the interventions to be traced (Pereira, 2001). In this sense, the present study aimed to analyze the contributions that the action plan "virtual agroecological fair between family farming and federal institutions in the state of Goiás-Brazil" brought to family farmers. This study provides tools to understand the potential of agroecological fairs in certain territories, with information for public politics, market agents and institutions in the sector.

Methodology
This study is characterized as an action-research (Silva et al., 2020) both for the character of the action plan "collaborative construction of an agroecological fair", and for the structure of development in which the insertion of the authors is guided by the permanent collection of elements of the practice and, also, for the development of small interventions that help to elucidate the problems detected, through problematization and theoretical deepening. The meticulousness of the gaze, integrated with the social phenomenon, makes "researchers establish channels of investigation and dissemination in the studied environments, in which the interaction between the "more enlightened" and "less enlightened" groups generates and prepares collective changes in the representations".

Characterization of the research area and family farmers
The Virtual Agroecological Interinstitutional Fair is held in an interinstitutional and collaborative way with family farmers with an appreciation of ecological-based family farming of the state of Goiás (IFG, 2020a, 2020b). Family farmers were selected in the IFG public call in 2020 (IFG, 2020c), which once a month offer food at the School of Nutrition of the Federal University of Goiás (FANUT/UFG), rectories of the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Goiás (IFG) and the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of the state of Goiás (IF Goiano). The selection was made by public call through: 1) photo identification document; proof of residence; declaration of aptitude to the valid/active pronaf/DAP (physical or legal) of the state of Goiás; 2) project for the sale of foodstuffs (up to 15 foods for DAP/physical and 30 for DAP/legal), which may be fruits, leaves and vegetables, processed foods, groceries, foods of animal origin, and legumes; 3) signatures and 2 self-declarations, one related to ecologically based production of foodstuffs and the other that presented a commitment to participate in monthly meetings for pro-teaching-research-extension (IFG, 2020c). In total, 29 family farmers participated in the fair, 10 men and 19 women, all literate in rural areas, in economic vulnerability, low education and the majority aged between 45 and 64 years (IFG, 2020a(IFG, , 2020d(IFG, , 2021. These farmers are in the rural area of the municipalities of Goiânia, Silvânia, Vianópolis, Campestre and Palmeiras. All who live in Campestre and Palmeiras are part of the Canudos settlement (IFG, 2020a(IFG, , 2020c. And given the territorial and geographical specificities, they were divided into 5 groups (Table 1, Figure 1). During the fairs, a survey was carried out of the products sold, as well as the main crops in the municipalities of Campestre, Goiânia, Palmeiras, Silvânia and Vianópolis in the state of Goiás. It should also be noted that in the second step there was an obligation to buy from all family farmers as a way of guaranteeing income and permanence for all at the Virtual Agroecological Interinstitutional Fair (IFG, 2020a). This determination is in accordance with Magnanti (2008), characterized as exchange and circulation of products, in which the entire rural community has the opportunity to "flow" the food produced in an equitable way.  Source: Authors.

Construction of the Rapid Participatory Emancipatory Diagnosis (RPED)
The virtual format was adapted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with social distancing and without agglomerations

Collaborative construction of the Virtual Agroecological Interinstitutional Fair
In six edition, there were an average of 40 orders and a total of 165 types of food were offered, which changed by edition according to seasonality. Box 1 lists the variety of the main foods distributed in 6 groups: fruits; dehydrated fruits, juices, and pulps; sweets, greens and vegetables; animal foods; dehydrated herbs and spices; bread and seeds (IFG, 2020a). The Virtual Agroecological Interinstitutional Fair is being a successful food supply strategy in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic with Food and Nutritional Security (FNS) "from the countryside to the city". Food and Nutritional Security represents the process "from production to food consumption", being essential for the implementation of public policies (HLPE, 2017a) and the "realization of everyone's right to regular and permanent access to quality food, in sufficient quantity, without compromising access to other essential needs, based on health-promoting food practices that respect cultural diversity and that are environmentally, culturally, economically and socially sustainable" (Brasil, 2006).
In addition to promoting Food and Nutritional Security, the following also included: internship for undergraduate students of public health nutrition, development of food and nutrition education materials for consumers and the institutional community, boosting the interinstitutional relationship by expanding the normative acts among the participants, participation in scientific events and production of agroecological knowledge, enabling the mapping of food and the technical qualification of the steps that deal with "production for trade" of food by family farmers (IFG, 2020a).
In view of the current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was possible to adapt and reinvent new techniques, seeking solutions for the process of change, rebuilding resilience and reintroducing diversification, reallocating food production and distribution, reducing dependence on inputs and imports, prioritizing food justice, equity and justice, as all parts of the food system are linked (Gliessman, 2020).

Construction of the Rapid Participatory Emancipatory Diagnosis with the leaders of the rural communities active in the Virtual Agroecological Interinstitutional Fair
During the construction of the Rapid Participatory Emancipatory Diagnosis, a critical and reflective look was experienced, raising hypotheses about the challenges and solutions for the transformation of this reality, with an understanding of the reality itself (Freire, 1989), giving leadership opportunities to present different realities of the communities, as well as the challenges, advances, and the possibilities of participation in the Virtual Agroecological Interinstitutional Fair.
The conscious person better understands the reality around, which occurs through the educational process of awareness and criticism because "in criticism there is a commitment" (Freire, 1989) that induces social transformation and self-reflection in the face of the different experiences lived in the context of rural communities, pushing forward in a collaborative way in praxis, where the collectivity transcends individualism and enhances the collective struggle in combating the social problems of race, gender, class and the fulfillment of human rights, such as narratives: "we can do the fair a very relevant experience for the lives of women, this process is interesting, because the majority are black women" (MORS, black woman, representative of the solidarity economy network Berço das Águas) "it is not just a way to earn money, it is good to earn money, it is very good, but the fair is a school that we have to dedicate ourselves to, study to get a good score at the end of the year. It's a learning experience" (LPO, leadership of the group of women warriors from Canudos, municipality of Palmeiras).
In dialogue with the results found in the studies carried out by Goodman (2003), Lamine (2008), it is worth highlighting the political positioning of rural communities in the recognition of short marketing chains as a promising path for generating income in the face of socio-environmental rationality, as well as highlights the family farmer from the Canudos settlement: "The fair comes to meet us, so to speak, of our policy, I speak ours, I speak of the countryside, which articulates via peasantry in spaces with people, with the production of healthy food. With another conception of the world and the field". This is the great challenge, that of healthy foods going through the expansion of consumers, because the way of taking middlemen out we have already discovered the formula". (JVM, National leadership of the landless rural workers movement, municipality of Palmeiras).
It is fundamental to problematize the reality of rural communities, with emphasis on the gender and generational dimension, with women being the reference in the production process, the providers of their homes and who accumulate, in addition to the functions of domestic activities, those who deal with the process of production, while there is a need to participate in the Virtual Agroecological Interinstitutional Fair, presents itself as additional work, even if it corroborates the protagonism and the generation of income, being even more hope in the face of sociability and the exchange of experiences.
Most are at an advanced age (over 50 years old) and only two can count on other generations for continuity and/or to enhance work in the rural area. This context is presented by the representative of the solidarity network Berço das Águas "the workforce is all over 40 years old, because these women are tired and will not be able to meet these requests, are there family and neighbors to transfer this knowledge?" (MORS).
Rural communities start to incorporate in their daily lives a new model of planning and organization to meet the requirements of the public call in the operationalization of the Virtual Agroecological Interinstitutional Fair, which reinforces the process pro-autonomy in the face of their own experiences, in the identification of possible interventions on capitalist rationality and present other ways and forms of organization for income generation, in a more just and equitable way "from the countryside to the city"; with emphasis on the narratives: "to be at the fair, you need to organize your time, other activities, you need to be ready for that day and time".
(RMRS, single, financial coordinator of the solidarity network Berço das Águas). "Would a fair voucher work as a sequence of the fair? Create like a seal!!!" (MORS). "There are things that do not justify the cost increase, such as the fruit pulp, the fruit that is only to be picked up and bagged, now there are others that justify it" (TSV, leader of the independent group in the municipalities of Palmeiras and Silvânia).
"And it's not even forbidden to pay, but to pay who? How? If it is not with financial resources, it may be due to exchanges, it is also a possibility to solve the manpower" (MORS).
"The plants are already drying, and we are already putting them in the packages, and we do this so that we do not get too overloaded on the day of ordering" (ASS, matriarch, mother of 3 children, married, elderly, from the Canudos settlement, municipality of Campestre).
The Comité de Seguridad Alimentaria Mundial (HLPE, 2017a, 2017b) and the results found by Litre et al., (2014), Lamine (2008) emphasize that rural communities with emphasis on women farmers are the references for maintenance and protection biodiversity and the preservation of the knowledge of traditional communities, as well as in the offer of healthy foods that culminate in the strengthening of more sustainable agri-food systems for the entire population, giving opportunity and greater possibility of economic access to food produced with ecological practices.
Direct contact with consumers enables fairer prices, in addition to less risk of waste (Darolt et al., 2016), according to the speeches: "sometimes we did and there was too much waste and, in this format, it responds well to the needs of the groups, even for the viability of the raw material, the losses are smaller and stimulates the desire for more. The risk is less" (RMRS).
The collaborative construction between family farmers, consumers, institutions, civil society, teaching-researchextension and the public authorities (Lamine, 2008) together with the alternative food networks enhance social transformation, so that the Virtual Agroecological Interinstitutional Fair is part of this context, as reported by one of the leaders: "there is the fair project, you need us and we need you, without farmers there is no fair and without organization there are no people" (LPO).
The DRPE served as a reference for the continuity of the other research steps and these experiences, as well as the

Final Considerations
Through the collaborative construction between family farmers and federal institutions in the state of Goias-Brazil, it was possible to set the Virtual Agroecological Interinstitutional Fair, with benefits and interactions with consumers, institutions, civil society and with the involvement of teaching-research-extension, in addition to public power, with information for public politics, market agents and institutions in the sector. Through the Rapid Participatory Emancipatory Diagnosis, it was possible to understand that family farmers support traditional practices and their ways of living, organizing, and producing and transcends the Industrial Agri-Food System and the historical, political, cultural, and socioeconomic problems that reflect in the daily life of rural communities. The main contributions of Virtual Agroecological Interinstitutional Fair include a path that potentiates more sustainable territorial development with income generation, weaves an alternative for food supply and the promotion of the alternative food network "from the countryside to the city" in the face of socioenvironmental rationality, in addition to a fairer and more equitable society, valuing biodiversity and offering food produced according to ecological practices. Despite the good results obtained with the fair so far, new strategies for the benefit of products, such as the production of booklets, a website with information on food products for sale and the inclusion of new farmers need future considerations.