É alimento ou mercadoria? Soberania alimentar, processo de exposição e imposição aos agrotóxicos e a relação alimento-saúde em municípios da Bacia do Juruena, Mato Grosso

Abstract

The use of land for the production of agricultural commodities in the municipalities of Mato Grosso agribusiness comes taking up space for food production. The objective of the study was to analyze the processes of exposure and imposition of pesticides, from the production of agricultural commodities (soybean, corn, cottonseed, feathered cotton) and foods (vegetables) in the Juruena Basin region covering Campo Novo do Parecis, Sapezal and Campos de Júlio. The methodology used was an Evaluative Case Study, based on Dialectic Realism and the concept of Food Sovereignty endorsed by Via Campesina. Interviews were conducted with rural workers and horticulturists to identify the production and use profiles of pesticides. Information was obtained about the acreage of the main commodities produced in the region and the crops that make up the national diet, based on municipal Agricultural Production data for 2016. The volume of pesticide use was estimated from data from the INDEA / MT, based on the liter volumes of pesticide formulated products per crop and planted area.From the data, a self-sufficiency scale was developed. Samples were collected from carrots, cabbage, lettuce, peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes, in vegetable gardens and supermarkets, as well as soybeans, corn, feathered cotton and cottonseed on farms or warehouses. The samples, sent to the reference laboratories of the Ministry of Health, were analyzed by the multi-residue extraction method, followed by Chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. Also interviewed were representatives of the municipal and state executive, health council and rural workers. The interviews analyzed by the technique Thematic Content Analysis, expressed the categories: Vulnerabilities in Health and Environment, Challenges of Public Policies, political and economic hegemony of agribusiness and suggestions. The results pointed to inequalities in land occupation, dependence on food from other regions, and increased use of pesticides as a consequence of the adopted production model, affecting local food production. 40 active ingredients were identified in the food and commodity samples analyzed in this study. Of the total, 11 agrochemicals (27.5%) are banned in the European Union UE. Commodities showed a higher frequency of pesticide detection than the Maximum Residue Limit (83%), with insecticides (47%) and fungicides (40%) being the most frequent. Among the vegetables, we observed a higher frequency of detection of pesticides not authorized for the crop (NA), 89%, with 37.5% being insecticides; 37.5% Fungicides and 25% Herbicides. There were also difficulties in the structuring of health care and surveillance, absence of social participation, agribusiness influence in local political action and invisibility of the theme. The final considerations of this thesis point out that the agribusiness legitimization process affects the implementation of local public health and environmental policies. The flexibilization of national legislation regarding the registration of banned pesticides in other countries, the differences between the MRL values practiced in Brazil and the European Union and the poor monitoring of residues in food are a process of making food contamination invisible, since they are processes unknown to the population, denoting their tax character, with repercussions on the environment and human health, both in production territories and consumers in distant markets.