Basic food basket in Cascavel, Paraná, Brazil

reports on the outreach project between 2018 and 2023

Abstract

Research on the cost of the basic food basket, inspired by the Marxist theory of the value of commodities and labor power, produces important indicators regarding the living conditions of the working class. In Brazil, the Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socioeconomic Studies conducts this investigation in 27 state capitals; similar initiatives are conducted by other institutions in several cities across the country, such as the State University of Western Paraná, which implemented this research program in the municipality of Cascavel, Paraná, in the early 1990s. However, due to a lack of human and financial resources, the research was interrupted and only resumed in 2018. Thus, this article aimed to present reports from individuals who participated directly or indirectly in the outreach project “Monthly Determination of the Cost of the Basic Food Basket in Cascavel” between 2018 and 2023. To this end, 19 individuals were interviewed, including professors, students, and local journalists. The results indicate that, despite the challenges faced, the project has proven important for both internal and external communities, whether through academic development of professors and students or dissemination of relevant information regarding purchasing power and the living conditions of the population of the aforementioned city and region.