What is the Food Indaba and what does the project bring? The Food Indaba is a platform that brings together stakeholders from across the food system to discuss and address challenges related to food security, sustainability and health. Everyone eats, so everyone is connected to the food system, and we all benefit from a better understanding of these connections and how we can make the best choices for ourselves, our society and the planet. The aim of the project is to foster collaboration, knowledge sharing and innovation in the food sector to ensure a more sustainable and just food system for all.
What inspired Food Indaba? Food Indaba was inspired by the growing need for collaboration and innovation in the food system to address challenges such as food security, sustainability and health. We also come together around food and can help heal the fractures in our society through a shared food culture and the recognition that we are all in this together; everyone eats. The founders recognized the importance of bringing together stakeholders from diverse sectors to work towards a more sustainable and just food system for the future.
What is the project? The Food Indaba comprises a series of events, workshops, discussions and collaborations aimed at addressing challenges in the food system. It brings together stakeholders from diverse sectors to share knowledge, best practices and innovative solutions to foster a more sustainable, healthier and fairer food system. It also raises awareness of the issues and opportunities and helps motivate and connect people with ways to make a difference.
What role do you play, given your role? Working with Kurt Ackermann and the team at SA Urban Food & Farming Trust (SAUFFT), I design each year’s theme and how the two-week programme can best explore it. A big part of my job is to create a range of events that is diverse enough that we can speak to a wide range of people, making the theme and food system issues we explore as relevant as possible. I am responsible for creating and delivering a cohesive programme.
In a few words, tell us a bit about yourself and the journey that led you to get involved with the Food Indaba? I have been running a tour operator since 2005, which mainly focuses on culinary journeys in different African cities. We have always created and offered gastronomic tours that focus on the stories of the cities in which they take place, highlighting indigenous narratives, shedding light on culinary stories that are often absent, showcasing international culinary trends of a city in the indigenous context. The objectives of the Food Indaba are therefore very consistent, and the complexity of multi-city tours with an extremely diverse supply chain, divergent perspectives and difficult logistics fits well with the complexity of managing an event program like the Food Indaba. When SAUFFT put out a call for applications for an event project manager, it seemed like a very good fit and a great opportunity to develop skills in a different space. Kurt and I had worked together briefly on tourism initiatives a decade earlier, and we already really liked each other’s work and approaches to work.
Who is the Food Indaba for? The Food Indaba is for everyone who eats as well as stakeholders in the food system, including farmers, producers, distributors, policy makers, researchers and consumers. It aims to bring together a broad range of individuals and organisations to collaborate on solving problems and promoting positive changes in the food system.
What can Cape Town residents expect? Food Indaba attendees can look forward to a diverse and engaging programme with a range of events and activities to suit all interests. Highlights include public discussions on the state of the city’s food system, participatory workshops such as foraging for weeds to prepare healthy and nutritious meals, cooking and eating workshops for children and adults, discovering the hidden connections between our personal homes and the wider economy (and how this affects us), guided tours of food systems in Cape Town, food systems masterclasses, tea sessions with local farmers and dialogues on topics such as sustainable oceans and food pairings with traditional African dishes. The conference will explore themes of hunger and power, providing a comprehensive and interactive experience for attendees.
What makes this year’s edition so special? I love that we’re bringing things home, in a way. The economics of the home, the connection between the food choices we make and the impact they have on the economy, and in turn the economy and its impact on the food choices we make at home: are we in a never-ending loop? How can we reclaim our agency? The market economy has its roots in food surpluses, and those surpluses were created from the home. So historically, the home is at the heart of the economy. Cape Town has such diverse and rich household food economies, how can we celebrate that and showcase that in an economy that tends to neglect the home? These are some of the things that make this year’s edition particularly special to me.V For more information about Food Indaba, visit https://foodindaba.org/.
