Question

What is a typical dinner in South Africa? Consider the Location (e.g., what can be grown there because of the climate, soils, etc.) Culture (e.g., what is acceptable or not acceptable to eat or drink because of customs, religions, etc.) Human/environmental interactions (e.g., how the environment and culture have interacted to produce what is on your plate) Movement (e.g., whether items can be readily purchased due to globalization)

Answer 1

Typical dinner in South Africa:

Location - Cape Town

South Africa is a country which was once colonised by several countries in the past over a period of time. This has resulted in a plethora of different cooking styles and techniques, methods and spices. In this country, one can find a mix of styles, flavors, and techniques - from Cape Dutch to French and Indian.

Cape Town has a unique multi-cultural heritage that influences much of its cuisines. Cape Town’s proximity to flourishing oceans and history of British colonial rule has resulted in a vibrant fish and meat culture. They prefer meat, and vegetables over anything else.

Most of the people in Cape grown their own vegetables in their gardens. The vegetables that are grown in the gardens range from greens to roots. It includes, spinach, tomatoes, carrots, beetroot, potatoes, mealies, green beans, peas, cabbage, cauliflower, garlic, onions and lettuce.

The Department of Agriculture in the Cape Town, Western Cape actively encourages citizens to start household and community food gardens in an effort to support food security in the province. So, people out there produce vegetables in their own communities together in the form of vegetable gardens. The communal gardens in those communities will actually makes it possible for communities to feed themselves as well as selling the excess fresh produce that they produce. This primarily encourages business within communities and broader financial independence while ensuring access to nutritious food. Most importantly, it is cheaper to grow and sell food locally, because the cost of the vegetables will be cheaper when they are produced locally. The transportation costs and other overheads like rentals will be reduced or sometimes such costs will be very low or negligible.

Secondly, communities will also have the choice to plant vegetables that are in demand in the community. When the vegetables are grown for the local market or local grocery stores, they will be duly informed by the sellers or market owners, what is the preference of the vegetables, what vegatables do they need and what is not needed. This way, communities can only grow what is needed, and according to the demand. Planting vegetables according to demand reduces wastage of vegetables and gardens are used more optimally contributing to a healthier environment.

In the last few years, Cape Town has witnessed the proliferation of hundreds of community gardens and urban farms. All of the food that is used in the Cape Town is produced by the urban farms.