A busca de alternativas sustentáveis: a experiência da fábrica de "bacalhau'' da Amazônia

Abstract

Humankind faces a new old dilemma: the challange of producing food, conserving natural resources and improving society's income. Although Malthusian catastrophism has been overdose by facts, it is undeniable that mankind has an ever increasing need for food, due to population growth, its concentration in urban centers and, fortunately, by the inclusion of millions previously living in extreme poverty. Being that natural resources are finite, the challenge of sustainability is to produce food with the least amount of environmental impact possible and maximum profitability. But what is sustainability? The answer to that exposes, without a doubt, the leading principle by which several factions, with its respective ideological notions, guide themselves with. Therefore, while productivists will say that sustainability is nothing more than economical growth, sanctuarists will claim that it is the preservation of natural resources; meanwhile, those who support sustainability shall demonstrate that it truly is the conciliation between economical growth and environmental conservation, guaranteeing the foundation for an effectively sustainable development. In the specific case of Amazonas, to overcome this challenge there needs to be a deeper understanding of the historical process of settlement in the area; the permanent development of appropriate stewardship techniques, based on modern scientifical and technicological knowledge; the State's intervention based on its role as an instrument of shepherding development, not as tool of supression of individual rights - as neoliberal policies dictate; and of a systematic and persistent process of social organization that helps overcome the limitations of colective actions and management of the production structure. Furthermore, a search for verticalization of production and added value to local raw materials is absolutely indispensible, both as a form of overcoming the paltry limits of subsistence production and of developing truly effective production processes, which will only be possible when our industries and agroindustries start fundamentally dealing with local raw materials. The codfish factory of Maraã, Amazonas - the 1st of its kind in the country - that converts pirarucu (Arapaima gigas) in Amazon “codfish” is one of the concrete responses to this theoretical challenge.