Autonomia culinária : desenvolvimento de um novo conceito

Abstract

Cooking autonomy (CA) is a new construct, not yet worked on the scientific literature and that approximates the discussions of collective health, healthy eating, empowerment and cooking skills developed in the domestic context. Therefore, this work aimed to develop the concept of cooking autonomy. It is a theoretical-conceptual study divided into three phases: conceptual elaboration, expert panel consult and content validity. The theoretical basis of CA was developed through a large bibliographical review. A conceptual map of cooking skills and a set of definitions with examples were elaborated and subsidized the construction of the conceptual model of cooking autonomy (CMCA). In all, 28 experts, including 25 Brazilian and 3 foreigners, gave an opinion on these materials in two face-to-face workshops, three e-mail consultations, five individual interviews and one talk round. Brainstorm, discussion groups and semi-structured interviews were some of the techniques used. The content validation was done with 10 of the 28 specialists, who decided, through an electronic form, about the relevance and the form of writing of each component of the CMCA. In the model, the CA comprises elements distributed in six levels: chronosystem (historical moment in which the agent lives), macrosystem (cultural and political values), exosistema (public policies), mesosystem (interactions between microsystems), microsystem (environment where the same stove is divided) and agent (individual capable of changing its food environment). The levels differ as to the degree of participation of the agent, who is the individual capable of intentionally changing his or her food environment. The CMCA shows, through the components present in the exosystem, the role of the State in the CA. At this level, there are public policies focused on social security, equality of race and gender, encouragement of cooking and agriculture, and healthy use of time. The exo and macrosystem aim to theoretically expose that CA is not only the result of individual action, such as having culinary skills, confidence and willingness to cook, or having a kitchen with basic infrastructure (microsystem). It is due to the presence of individual components in a context of access to opportunities and guarantee of fundamental rights, permeated by values (chronosystem) that favor CA. To illustrate the performance of the individual and the government in the conquest of CA, two tables provide examples of actions that fit the agent and recommended policy actions. Regarding content validation, with the exception of "domestic food production and planting", all components of the model were considered "highly relevant" by the experts. It is concluded that CA is the ability to think, decide and act to cook meals from scratch, influenced by interpersonal relations, environment, cultural values, access to opportunities and guarantee of rights. The built model is a contribution to the state of the art of domestic cooking. A pioneer in world literature, it provides the conceptual bases for building a CA tool, important for the development of research on the subject, and for actions to promote healthy eating and food and nutritional security