About 40 people are sitting along trestle tables, tucking into huge plates of rice, beans, chicken, pork, cabbage and chuchu (a green vegetable). The noise in the dining hall is deafening as the children chat about the football match they’re planning for the afternoon and their parents talk about everything from the cutback in rural credit, announced that morning by the government, to the latest episode in a popular TV soap. On the wall, a big poster bears the slogan: “To make revolution, get educated.” Shouting above the din, Natalino Gonçalves, president of the cooperative, says: “Except for the salt and the beans, because we had a poor harvest last year, we produced everything we’re eating now. We even cook in lard from pigs we... [Log in to read more]