¿Son los productos orgánicos más caros? Estudio comparativo de los precios hortofrutícolas en distintos canales de comercialización de Pelotas, Brasil

The issue of food is at the center of major debates in contemporary times. Indeed, the great world scandals involving adulteration and contamination of food are rising as the full proof of the risk society described, in a prophetic tone, by Ulrich Beck. The uncertainty regarding the quality of agri-food products has been pointed out as one of the factors that explain, to a greater or lesser extent, the uninterrupted growth in the rates of increase in production and consumption of organic products across the planet. However, there are a number of studies that highlight the barriers that prevent the expansion of this segment of agricultural production. Most of these studies state that the price of organic food tends to be higher than that of conventional products. The core objective of the research that led to the preparation of this article was to seek answers to this question. Over 54 weeks, weekly prices were monitored for ten products in four marketing channels in a municipality in Brazil (Pelotas, Rio Grande del Sur-RS, Brazil), as follows: two large supermarkets, a conventional fair and an organic fair. Main results indicate that the conventional fair has the largest number of products with lower average prices. However, at the organic fair, there were products whose average prices varied very little during the year and some even showed to be lower than in other marketing channels. This research converges to the understanding that the prices charged are not necessarily a factor that restricts organic consumption. Key words: horticulture, organic products, prices, food fairs, alternative agri-food chains, Pelotas, Brazil