Abstract:
This paperwork examines the organizational changes that have occurred in the family farming enterprises from the county of Espera Feliz (Minas Gerais State) through the operationalization of actions of the Programa Nacional de Alimentação Escolar (PNAE). The case of the Cooperativa da Agricultura Familiar e Solidária de Espera Feliz (Coofeliz), of Espera Feliz (Coofeliz), was analyzed from the economical sociology approach to identify and understand the changes that occur as more people participated in PNAE. The analysis allowed identifying processes of productive organization of the cooperative members and the cooperative management organization that were significantly affected by the set of rules and procedures established by the program. The institutional news promoted by the program influenced the emergence of organizational innovations, whose main example was the "Vale Solidário", created to supply the payment for farmers due to the lack of working capital. The relationship established between cooperative members and the agents involved in the food acquisition process for school feeding allowed the creation of market standards closer to the family farmer's reality. In the end, the accessibility to PNAE also caused changes in the cooperative members' production head, in the sense of greater productive diversification, instead of the specialization focused in a commodity.
Key-words:
Family farming; Cooperatives; Access to markets