Social representations of organic food for young people of the countryside

Abstract

To identify the social representations of organic food for undergraduate students residents of the countryside. The research was developed with undergraduate students in rural education residents of the countryside. It is a cross-sectional study by exploratory qualitative approach. It was based on the Social Representations Theory. The participants were asked to formulate cartography data and a descriptive text about organic food, in order to identify the social representations about the theme. The social representations were analyzed from the texts, as well as the symbolic systems involved. An inquiry was also applied in order to profile the present group in the sociodemographic matters, the practice of growth and consumption of organic food. Results: Participated in the study 20 residents of the countryside students, which average age was 27 years old (10,28). About 55% (11) of the participants belonged to the male gender and 65% (13) of them were single. As for the farming practices, 80% (16) stated that they had crops in their properties and 85% (17) stated that they had orchards. As for the kind of growth, 93,8% (15) of the crops were organic and 82,4% (14) of the orchards. The main object of the growth wereself consumption. The main social representations about organic food was that it is the one without pesticides, sustainable and healthy. The conceptions about organic food are related to the kind of farming practiced by the subjects, as well as the knowledge exchanged within the community and family members and the media information, but not necessarily to the technical definition stablished by guidelines on the matter.