Unconventional food plants used by farming families of the Núcleo Luta Camponesa da Rede Ecovida de Agroecologia, Paraná.

Abstract

There is a great diversity of native or cultivated plants that can be used in food and that contribute to food sovereignty. Thus, this research aimed to verify which unconventional food plants (PANC) are known and used by the farming families belonging to the Núcleo Luta Camponesa da Rede Ecovida de Agroecologia, Paraná. For this, a semi-structured interview, ethnobotanical walk and participant observation were carried out in 30 production units. 67 ethnospecies were cited, 34 native, 29 cultivated and four naturalized. It was found that some PANCs were replaced by conventional species, and that there was a reduction in the occurrence of some species due to agricultural modernization. With the agroecological transition carried out in production units, many PANCs have been incorporated into the agroecosystem. Therefore, peasant families know and use PANCs, they are already part of the food culture or are being known, and agroecology has a fundamental role in the rescue of this knowledge and in the dissemination of new ones.