Family farming and human and environmental health conservation

a qualitative study with 129 farmers from Ilha dos Marinheiros, Rio Grande, Brazil. Secondary data and recorded interviews were used in this study, with subsequent analysis performed by Bardin and NVivo10, both based on Enrique Leff's cultural rationality.

Results:

the positive impacts included food production with responsibility, work appreciation, and the correct, minimum or inexistent insertion of agrochemicals. The negative aspects included excessive and incorrect use of agrochemicals and absent farming knowledge.

Conclusion:

environmental conservation consisted in reducing impacts that could have a negative effect on health, while performing work activities.

Key words:
Agriculture; Sustainable Development; Public Health Nursing; Environmental Health; Rural Workers

Thematic units/knot trees (1, 2, 3, and 4)		Themes/knots	n	Codes	n
Positive impacts of farming work on the environment
1. Productivity	Personal satisfaction	Land cultivation with satisfaction	17	Planting	9
	Autonomy	Work self-management	16 12	Work Money	6 4
	Work is wealth	Family support	7	Eating	2
	Feeding	Producing food	Total		21
Total
2. Agrochemical - use and non-use -		Correct use of agrochemicals	7	Pesticide	4
		Non-use of agrochemicals	7	No	7
		Avoid the use of agrochemicals	5	Poisons	3
		Use of agrochemicals when needed	1	Nature	2
Total			Total		16
3. Environmental conservation		Care for the environment without damaging it	19	The environment	4
4. No, yes, does not know, did not answer		Does not identify positive impacts	14	No	14
		Identifies positive impacts	10	No	8
		Does not know the answer	9	No	8
		Did not answer	10	-	-
Total			43		30
Negative impacts of farming work on the environment
1. Agrochemical - the use -		Use of agrochemicals	30	Agrochemical	10
		Incorrect use of agrochemicals	2	Pollute	2
		Use of agrochemicals to guarantee harvest	1	Spoon	1
Total			Total		13
2. Work		Land cultivation changes the environment	8	Damages	3
		Lack of knowledge for proper cultivation	3	Guidance	2
		Insecurity regarding harvest and product sales	2	Selling	2
		Daily requirements imposed on farmers	1	Hard work	1
Total			Total		8
3. No, yes, does not know, did not answer		Does not identify negative impacts	61	No	59
		Identifies negative impacts	1	Yes	1
		Does not know the answer	4	No	3
		Did not answer	18	-	-
Total			84		63

Thematic units/knot trees (1, 2, and 3)	Themes/knots	n	Codes	n
1. Agrochemical - use and non-use -	Correct use of agrochemicals	27	Pesticide	11
	Reduced use of agrochemicals	16	Minimum	6
	Contributes to water and soil pollution	9	No	8
	Attention to agrochemical container storage and disposal	9	The environment	4
	Non-use of agrochemicals	6	No	5
Total		Total		35
2. Environmental and human health conservation	The environment is circular in relation to human actions	47	No	27
	Caring for the environment is caring for human health today and tomorrow	7	Health	4
	Use of organic products	3	Soil	2
Total		Total		30
3. No, yes, does not know, did not answer	Does not conserve environmental health at work	7	No	7
	Does not know the answer	6	No	6
	Conserves environmental health at work	2	Yes	2
	Did not answer	4	-	-
Total		19		15

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[1] CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Marta Regina Cezar-Vaz. E-mail: cezarvaz@vetorial.net