O perfil dos produtores associados à Alianza del Pastizal e o programa de carne certificada como incentivo à conservação ambiental

Abstract

This research seeks to analyze how a differentiated beef production is organized in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, through the case study of the Certified Meat Program Alianza del Pastizal. I n this way, topics were discussed about how the organization emerged and its motivations, how the associated producers are characterized, how the regional context in which the certification model was developed and in which ways this program differs from th e others that already exist. To make this possible, interviews and questionnaires were carried out with agents related to Alianza del Pastizal, who were members of the organization and associated producers. These results were analyzed based on the socioeco nomic theories, in order to better understand the factors that led agents to participate in this initiative. It can be seen that this certification model comes as a strategy to stimulate the conservation of the Pampa biome, through incentives to rural prod ucers in the region, at the same time that the regional meat product starts to appreciate in the market thanks to the symbolic capital, both cultural and environmental, added to livestock production by the certification offered by Alianza del Pastizal. The se factors arouse great interest in the region's producers, who, in hypothesis, start to feel prestigious to be part of a noble initiative that seeks to value the traditional characteristics of their region, at the same time that it serves as an economic s trategy for the valorization of their agri food products. In a way, presenting to the public the existing differences in the meat produced in the Pampa s Biome , through a system of sustainable cattle breeding, allied to the conservation of native fields.