Casas de Farinha em Poço Dantas – PB: ressurgimento de uma cultura agrícola, de práticas econômicas e de vivências sociais nos ambientes de produção (1970-1990).

Abstract

The production of cassava flour and its consequent consumption has a long history, dating back to our indigenous people and first settlers. It is a material culture that occupies a place of honor in our history of food. However, when we open a window to the 19th century we see this same culture in regional and local economies marking a strong presence through the production of family farming, even considering the interludes of droughts and winters. In the municipality of Poço Dantas (state of Paraíba), Casas de Farinha began to appear in 1920 and closed during the 1970s, reconfiguring the socioeconomic landscape of Poço Dantas – PB. Soon after the 90s, rural families returned and adapted to a craft that formed the basis of their subsistence for so long. This fact led us to formulate a study that aimed to analyze the shifts that took place in the cassava production and commercialization activity in the municipality, in light of the transformations that occurred and their implications for the economy and culture of local history. The research problem we posed was to understand how these families adapted to the closure of Casas de Farinha and the economic implications for the municipality of Poço Dantas. To this end, we resorted to the use of oral sources (individuals from rural areas and participants who had direct or indirect contact with the production process) and public documents that supported the resurgence of these establishments with public management initiatives. The recurrence to some theoretical contributions from the Marxist paradigm was an attempt to give some configuration to the economic history of our study. To the same extent, we understand the handling of these references as a first possible moment for our economic history, but one that will deserve greater theoretical investments in the continuation of this work, an intention that we have as our objective.