A stay-at-home order has meant a loss of income for many of the working poor — and the fear that they won't be able to feed their families. Then a group of organic farmers had an idea.
Flavia Altenfelder, an organic farmer in a neighboring town, saw the post and reached out to Duckur. Together, they started Pertim, a network of farmers working to help families in the favelas in need of food — and to provide support for local agriculture.
Pertim is Portuguese for"close," because the group wants to bring farmers and families closer. Rafael Duckur and other farmers who are part of Pertim check on the quality of the boxes they are preparing.Rafael Duckur and other farmers who are part of Pertim check on the quality of the boxes they are preparing.Since launching Pertim, Duckur and Altenfelder have helped three other groups form. The four groups say they have distributed more than 400 boxes of food in four favelas. Pertim buys food from the growers to fill the boxes sent to the favelas."The same basket that goes for payers, goes out as donations," says Duckur. Each box contains fruits, eggs, vegetables, coffee and other organic products — even cloth face masks made locally. Joana Luiza Mendes opens gate to Fazenda Malabar, a farm where Flavia Altenfelder grows her produce. Mendes is bringing boxes to fill with food that will be donated to favela residents.Joana Luiza Mendes opens gate to Fazenda Malabar, a farm where Flavia Altenfelder grows her produce. Mendes is bringing boxes to fill with food that will be donated to favela residents.Pertim is supported by cash donations and by selling what Duckur calls"Robin Hood" baskets to those who can afford them. The idea is that the cost of buying two such baskets will also provide funds that enable the farmers to give away one free box of food to the favelas. Brasilandia, with 280,000 people, is the fourth-most populous district in the outskirts of Sao Paulo. There, Pertim is aided by Dimas Reis, a favela resident who is cofounder of a collective working to improve the lives of residents and by a health agent who finds families who need the boxes. Dimas Reis receives organic produce from Pertim at his home and sorts it into the individual baskets that will go to families in need.Dimas Reis receives organic produce from Pertim at his home and sorts it into the individual baskets that will go to families in need.The boxes of food contain a variety of foods — lettuce, parsley, escarole, cabbage, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, beets, lemons, eggplants, peppers, cucumbers, bananas, persimmons, eggs and coffee — along with face masks.The boxes of food contain a variety of foods — lettuce, parsley, escarole, cabbage, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, beets, lemons, eggplants, peppers, cucumbers, bananas, persimmons, eggs and coffee — along with face masks."It's great to make that link from the farm to the city and reestablish people's connection to food," Reis says. The logistics of collecting, preparing and distributing the baskets is complex and time-consuming, and Pertim is improving procedures as they go. The food has to be picked up from the producers in a roughly 25-mile range, and cleaned. Then it's trucked to the favela, where volunteers sort the goods into individual boxes. Dimas Reis, an activist who works to help residents of the favela Brasilandia, adds alcohol to a spray bottle so he can sanitize his hands while organizing food baskets donated by Pertim.Dimas Reis, an activist who works to help residents of the favela Brasilandia, adds alcohol to a spray bottle so he can sanitize his hands while organizing food baskets donated by Pertim.On a recent trip, 50 boxes were distributed in Brasilandia, delivered directly to people like Rodrigo Gonçalves in Brasilandia. The 19-year-old is the sole provider in his household, which he shares with his mother, two daughters and a niece."We survive out of my work and with the help of Bolsa Família [a government welfare program]," he says. Gonçalves is a construction auxiliary, which means his jobs are always temporary. He's waiting for the next one.Rodrigo Gonçalves, 19, received one of the boxes from the farmers. Gonçalves is the is the sole provider in his household, which he shares with his mother, two daughters and a niece. He is a construction auxiliary, which means his jobs are always temporary.Rodrigo Gonçalves, 19, received one of the boxes from the farmers. Gonçalves is the is the sole provider in his household, which he shares with his mother, two daughters and a niece. He is a construction auxiliary, which means his jobs are always temporary.Duckur hopes that the network of farms in Pertim will expand beyond the four that have signed on in the past two months. As Reis, Pertim's collaborator in Brasilandia, notes, with little government support in the favelas,"we have to act for ourselves."Patrícia Monteiro for NPR
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