My stay in Erechim, one of Brazil's largest yerba mate processing centre's was short and sweet. Roberto Ferron, executive director of the Brazilian Yerba Mate Institute was my host and took me along with him on his daily newspaper and radio interview rounds. 

In Erechim I learned that 70% of Brazil's food production comes from small family own farms . In daily Brazilian life, people buy just as much from semi-formal fresh food markets as they do from supermarkets. The customer is king and gives power to those they spend their money with. What a way to give power to the people by demanding small-scale produce from a variety of independent sources.