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Bananas, mangoes, papayas, pequis, sugarcane, cassava, murici, tucunaré, matrinxã, pintados, peanuts, honey, pirão, and beiju. Have you ever considered enrolling your children in a school that offers freshly harvested produce from the fields and forest, as well as fresh fish? 

Food like this, which comes from the hands and work of small producers — many of them parents and relatives of the students — are arriving at some schools in Mato Grosso.    

One example is the Hadori State Indigenous School, in the São Domingos Indigenous Land, of the Iny people, known as Karajá, in the municipality of Luciara (MT), which is developing a pilot project and this year will provide its approximately 90 students with food produced in the community itself. 

This change is happening through the collaboration of the Traditional Foods Commission of the Peoples of Mato Grosso (Catrapovos – MT). The commission brings together partners and seeks to adapt and expand access to the National School Feeding Program (PNAE), enabling Indigenous, quilombola, extractivist, retireiro, Pantanal, Morroquian, and riverine farmers to supply their products to schools in their communities.

On the Hadori School menu, the Indigenous language already indicates the changes that will appear on the plate. Students will be able to eat Irá mare (manioc and beiju), Krose (couscous), Ijore Benôra (fish soup), Uxé (fish farofa), and Iwerú (canjica).

School principal Célio Kawina Ijavari celebrated. "Our people will be selling fish, flour, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and cassava. It will improve the school meals!"

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The specific public call for the acquisition of food from traditional peoples and communities took place at the beginning of this year, and six producers from the community were registered.

Célio Kawina Ijavari says that last year, the school hosted an activity on healthy eating and served traditional dishes using local produce. The school community approved. "The community thought about selling their produce for the students to eat, valuing our people's diet and encouraging farming. That's our idea," he said. 

According to the director, people in the community are consuming too many processed foods. The program can support the recovery of traditional, healthier eating habits. It can also encourage the traditional agricultural system of the Iny people, sparking the interest of younger people.  

Catrapovos

The initiatives taking place at Catrapovos-MT stem from the Commission for Traditional Foods of the Peoples of Amazonas (Catrapoa), created by the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) and which seeks to adapt public food procurement policies to the local realities of traditional peoples and communities. The initiative eventually became a permanent national discussion forum on the topic and gave rise to commissions in the states. 

"The policy drives an entire positive chain. And Catrapovos seeks to reduce bureaucracy and expand access and benefits, strengthening agricultural systems, healthy eating, and the traditions behind each food. It also promotes local income generation, serving as an alternative to other systems that have significant impacts on territories and traditional ways of life, such as timber, soybeans, and mining," explained agronomist Marcelo Martins, an ISA analyst and member of Catrapovos-MT.

In Mato Grosso, the group was formalized in June 2022 and meets monthly. Marcelo Martins said that one of the first steps was drafting the bylaws and the charter of principles.  

Anthropologist Luísa Tui Rodrigues Sampaio, an ISA analyst, is also a member of Catrapovos-MT. "With our work, we're bringing together the different groups—producers, schools, and partner organizations like the State Department of Education (SEDUC)," she said. 

Another project being developed with the communities through Catrapovos is the production survey: what food can be supplied and in what quantity. 

The information is passed on to Seduc, which develops the menu including traditional products. Funai is also producing a production assessment in some indigenous communities. 

"We seek solutions through discussions about food. This dialogue is related to food security and sovereignty, as well as other pressing issues such as climate change, wildfires, deforestation, and pesticide use. Communities have been noticing impacts such as seed loss and difficulties in cultivating some crops for some time now."

ICV project manager Eriberto Muller reported that, in two years of operation, Catrapovos - MT has achieved important progress by bringing together institutions around the issue of traditional food in schools. 

One of the positive impacts he cites is on health. "Indigenous women report an increase in diseases like diabetes and high cholesterol, which were brought about by conventional diets in their villages and schools. This testimony is worrying," he stated.

He also pointed out that mobilizing the community to participate in the PNAE promotes recognition of the productive potential of traditional peoples, opening up possibilities for new paths, such as supplying products to other institutional markets, through the Food Acquisition Program (PAA).

Yaiku Suyá, representative of the Xingu Indigenous Land Association (ATIX) in Catrapovos, Mato Grosso, emphasized the importance of traditional foods in schools. "Traditional foods are very rich and healthy. We don't know how food from outside, from the city, is prepared, and it can be harmful. We know it's heavily infused with pesticides," he reflected. He suggested that the list of foods allowed to be sold in schools should be expanded to include local products.

Pilot project

The Hadori Indigenous State School was chosen to develop the pilot project because it met the conditions to participate in the PNAE — The school was mobilized, and there were farmers interested in supplying their products. But they still couldn't access the program.

A working group involving the Catrapovos Executive Secretariat and the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office of Mato Grosso, led by Attorney Ricardo Pael Ardenghi, was responsible for mobilizing the pilot project and will closely monitor the efforts to identify bottlenecks and potential gaps. The experience may be expanded to other communities and schools.

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"With this project, we will monitor the policy as it is implemented, identifying bottlenecks and strengths, in order to develop ideas that will make the PNAE work better and reach other regions," assessed Marcelo Martins. 

One of the activities was the 2024 promotion of a workshop for producers and schools themselves to understand how to access the PNAE and PAA programs. The workshop was conducted by Cecane and Empaer, with support from ISA, ICV, the Indigenous Missionary Council (Cimi), and Seduc, through the Confresa Regional Education Directorate (DRE). 

 Another initiative by Catrapovos – MT seeks to identify foods that are on a larger scale and can be offered to schools throughout the state and even the country, such as baru, jatobá, pequi, babassu, Brazil nuts and honey.   

"Adapting public policy values ​​the ways of life of these peoples and the adaptations they have developed over time to exist in these spaces. Traditional peoples and communities have learned to live in each environment and biome. Ensuring that the food they produce reaches school meals is decolonizing through food, which is important for the resilience of these peoples and their agricultural systems," said Marcelo Martins. 

Another Catrapovos initiative in 2024 was participation in the 2nd Agroecology Week, hosting a panel discussion with the participation of ISA, ICV, Conab, and Seduc. Representatives from the Kamadu State Indigenous School and quilombolas shared their experiences with traditional school meals. 

“During the meeting, representatives from Seduc reported that, with the coordination of Catrapovos, there is greater participation of indigenous and quilombola schools in the PNAE,” said Luísa Tui. 

By the end of 2024, at least 30 indigenous schools and three quilombola schools in Mato Grosso had presented traditional preparations in the school meals to be served in 2025. 

It is estimated that in state schools in the Xingu Indigenous Territory (TIX), the resources moved by the PNAE are around R$1 million per year. Composed of four contiguous Indigenous Lands — Xingu Indigenous Park, Wawi, Pequizal do Naruvôtu and Batovi — TIX is home to 16 peoples. 

Federal Prosecutor in Amazonas, Fernando Merloto Soave, who coordinates Catrapovos Brasil along with three other prosecutors, believes that the PAA and PNAE are public policies that can have positive impacts in several areas, beyond food, such as public safety in the territories, health, youth empowerment, and the climate crisis.

"Enabling access to sustainable income generation often means distancing these people from the lure of mining, drug trafficking, and deforestation, as well as the co-optation of young people and leaders into illicit activities. Today, unfortunately, some Indigenous, Quilombola, and riverine youth are leaving their territories due to a lack of public policies and prospects, and some even end up getting involved with alcohol and drugs, with negative impacts on mental health, depression, and suicide. By facilitating and adapting access to public policies, we can mitigate countless problems, contributing to food security and healthy eating, but also to public safety and mental health," he considered.

Adequacy

It may seem easy to bring food from the farm to school. But it's not. Complex legislation was preventing many farmers from accessing the policy. Several rounds of negotiations were held to add adjustments to the policy. 

In October 2023, the National Fund for Education Development (FNDE) released the Technical Note 3744623/2023. Previously there was already the Technical Note No. 3/2020/6th CCR/MPF. The documents are the result of discussions promoted by the Catrapovos Brasil Permanent Dialogue Table.

Among the innovations brought by the technical notes is the expansion of the range of products that can be delivered directly to community schools through a direct purchasing system. In addition to plant-based products, in natura, processed products such as flour and cakes, and products of animal origin such as fish and chicken are included. 

There was also a simplification in the documentation to be presented by the producer and the opening of a specific public call for traditional peoples and communities.  

Other challenges remain to be addressed for the expansion of the program, which does not yet reach the entire state and school system. Among them, those involving the issuance of tax invoices, an issue that will be debated in 2025. With these adjustments, public agencies will include Indigenous, Quilombola, and traditional communities. — and their ways of life — to the center of the discussion. 

"The adjustments to public policy recognize that these populations have their own way of producing and preserving food and possess knowledge about food that is important to consider. This is very innovative in terms of public policy," concluded Luísa Tui.