Food is powerful. Food is the bedrock of our health and well-being. Food has the power to bring people together at every stage, from farm to fork.
One of the things that really makes me feel energised about being a chef here in South Africa is the value now being put on fresh produce that's sourced locally in the community. I look around and see local markets popping up all over the place and, wherever I go, I get the sense that people are really getting a better understanding about the importance of what they eat and where their food comes from. They know that in many cases fresh, local produce is not only tastier but also more healthy and nutritious than processed and fast food.
That's why I was so excited to be contacted recently by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and invited to join a global Healthy Not Hungry movement. The philosophy of all involved is that the food we eat and share should be nutritious and locally-sourced. The aim is to get a serious discussion going about how we grow, produce and consume food in our individual countries.
In Southern Africa, we will kick-start this movement with an event at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) this month. Together with UJ's Executive Chef, Tlholo Nyatlo and other rising stars from South Africa's next generation of chefs. The guests, who will come from all sectors of South African society, will have one thing in common - an interest in food and how we can make our food systems better. And by better, I mean healthier, more sustainable and more accessible for everyone.
The event at UJ is part of series of such events being held around the world and linked with the Annual Leaders event hosted by WFP at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Top chefs including Sam Kass, Kiran Jethwa, Gaston Acurio and Manal Alalem are putting together special dinners in cities from a dozen locations around the world.
In South Africa, we're fortunate to have an amazing variety of indigenous edible plants. But we often tend to concentrate on the main staples – maize, wheat, rice and potatoes – and build our meals around them. But, in fact, there are about 30,000 edible plants in the world and quite a few of them grow here in our own country.
Each of these events serve as a launching pad for the year-long Healthy Not Hungry movement, an advocacy movement for the world's Sustainable Development Goals. We'll be promoting it, using that very tag line: #HealthyNotHungry
Here in South Africa, we're very fortunate to have an amazing variety of indigenous edible plants. But, as elsewhere in the world, we often tend to concentrate on the main staples – maize, wheat, rice and potatoes – and build our meals around them. But, in fact, there are about 30,000 edible plants in the world and quite a few of them – though I have to admit, I haven't counted how many – grow here in our own country.
What this all comes down to is changing the way to grow and consume food. I suppose you could say, I have a bit of a mission. I really want to make more diverse, nutritious foods accessible to more people. If I can do this, it'll be my small contribution towards a hunger-free world.
The reality is we have a lot of work to do ensuring the one in nine hungry people in our world have enough food to eat, as well as reaching the one in four boys and girls who suffer from enduring irreversible yet preventable stunting, a form of malnutrition with long-lasting consequences affecting children's ability to reach their physical and economic potential.
Such stunting is a particular problem in southern Africa. That's why I'm so keen that we should all help build a world of zero hunger. There are numerous things we can do to help make it happen – grow our own fruit and vegetables on our own plots, for example, and reduce the food we waste at every stage of the supply chain. We can all help in our own way.
I started out as a waiter and a barman in restaurants in my youth. Now I have two restaurants of my own, one in Franschhoek and one in Cape Town. During all that time, the things I really care about have remained the same: good, locally-produced food that is sourced in the community and that is served with creativity and thoughtfulness.
The artist Maya Angelou once said, "Sharing food is a form of expression," and for most South Africans, sharing food is part of life. Food like that is good for you in every way. It's good for your body and it's good for your soul.