CRUEIRA: PROJECT AND YOUTH IN SÍTIO COQUEIRO, ITAPIPOCA - CE
Utilization of cassava; Project; Youth
This research aims to identify and analyze the ways in which crueira, a product derived from cassava, is used in Sítio Coqueiro, Ceará. I discuss the importance of the tuber and its potential for use by members of the community, with an emphasis on traditional uses and the innovations that have emerged since 2022, when a project began in partnership with the Laboratory for Creation in Food Culture and Social Gastronomy (EGSIDB), proposing new ways of using crueira to make food. The methodology adopted for the study was ethnography of the food production and transformation processes, with the analysis of 27 semi-structured interviews carried out with residents involved in the processing of cassava. The paper describes the participation of the community during the development of the project and the importance of the crueira in the past, the present and the prospects for the future. The project, which proposes a food use and the creation of recipes with this residue, generates tensions: for some residents, the crueira refers to a past of extreme poverty and they believe that, today, they have more practical food options. Others advocate exploiting the potential of this by-product and giving it a new meaning in food production. In this context, the young defend the use of technology, while the old resist it, which results in tensions over the valorization and use of the waste.