Food Review
Frozen in Johannesburg

Food Review is South Africa's journal for food and beverage manufacturers.

Professor Yanga Zembe, socio-anthropologist and researcher at the University of the Western Cape, recently presented her findings as part of an on-going study on how a strong socio-political context currently frames the food landscape in South Africa, at the first Yoghurt Summit in Johannesburg. Our multicultural population, issues of food security, and the major socio-political shifts that took place in South Africa have played a pivotal role in shaping and moulding our current food landscape. South Africa is a richly diverse and multi-cultural country, but diets tell a different story as dietary diversity in South Africa is in fact quite low. This is largely due to much of the population consuming large amounts of maize meal, bread and sugar with low intakes of animal protein and fruit and vegetables. It is known that a diverse diet is more likely to contain all the essential nutrients than a monotonous one.Maslow’s famous Hierarchy of Needs places physiological needs, like food and water, at the forefront of a person’s needs. Yet results from the 2013 South African National Health Survey showed that almost three in ten people in SA go hungry, and one in four go hungry most months of the year. From the emerging findings of the study that Prof Zembe is presently conducting, there is a strong indication that, contrary to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, food is not just about sustenance but a way of meeting both emotional and physiological needs. Her preliminary findings suggest that eating is a complex and tensioned area, not as simple as once believed, and this may be overlooked when healthcare professionals advise their patients on healthy eating. Social media, in particular Facebook, is also a hugely influential space that she appealed to health professionals to penetrate as an avenue to disseminate accurate information on good food choices and nutrition. It is interesting how food and nutrition knowledge do not necessarily translate into healthy eating practices. Calories are clearly cultural, connecting us with who we are, and a way to transfer cultural food practices through food and into our modern worlds. Local and international speakers shared emerging research on various aspects of gut health. SAYINI aims to uncover scientific data related to yoghurt, stimulate new research and identify gaps in our understanding on the health effects of this food category.