Eating Within Your Means

As vegans (mostly in 1st world countries) celebrate World Vegan Day on the 1st of November each year, which includes a variety of activities such as vegan food festivals, planting of trees, entertainment events and spectacular shows that run for the whole month of November, the rest of the world (not 1st world) do not usually have the luxury of food choices (adopting a strictly vegan diet) because a continued, nutritious supply of different food groups is still a problem in most parts of Africa.

In South Africa, I don't recall the day being marked by any special events over the years (we honestly do have a lot on our plate as a country), there are definitely more issues in our country that take president – like crime, Gender Based Violence (GBV), child stunting, fight against HIV and TB. So, it is not surprising at all that veganism as a lifestyle choice and a diet that has increasing heath benefits is not part of the governments’ national agenda.

Across all of Africa, there is a greater concern around providing citizens with basic essentials such as food to eat, with a little less focus on what type of food is being eaten – just as long as people eat and live to see another day. Basically, just eat. The middling citizen in South Africa is already struggling to make ends-meet, with an average family size of between 5-7 people, largely depended on one or two minimum waged salaries. Therefore, telling people faced with these types of financial difficulties not to continue eating any type of food (animal and animal-based products in this case), for any reason short of confirmed death, is (as the youngins would say) reaching!

According to Stats SA, more than 30.4 million South Africans - 55.5% of the population—live on less than R992 per month. This amount is used for rent, food, and transport. This essentially means that they live in poverty, below the poverty line. The rest of South Africa largely falls within the booming middle class, which is relatively well nourished, live relatively comfortable lives without the privilege of being able to afford luxury items such a car or a stand-alone house.

The average South African would swiftly announce that he or she is not a vegan and would regard veganism with a certain amusement – even boldly sighting the lifestyle as another expensive, unnecessary alteration made by white people. This announcement is made with so much confidence and pride that seems to say, “we are lucky to be immune to such issues”. Still, even with this perception in mind, I have always observed that South Africans are inherently vegan and consume more vegetarian and vegan foods than they would care to acknowledge. In probing what many of my friends and family eat on a regular basis, I have observed that the diet South Africans consume includes vegetarian/vegan options.

Non-meaty/dairy, and vegan staple foods in South Africa that are part of our daily consumption include mealie meal, ting (fermented porridge), rice, umngqusho (samp and beans), amadumbe (colocasia esculenta/taro), chakalaka, morogo (wild, leafy greens), root vegetables, inexpensive fruit options such as apples and banana, bread and amagwinya (fat cakes). As much as South Africans love their meat and dairy, for a huge part of the population (especially those living below the poverty line), if there is no meat to star in a dish, the food is still happily eaten. Uphutu (crumbly maize meal) with beans or cabbage, ting and morogo, isopho (corn soup), ilaxa (pumpkin leaves cooked with fresh pumpkin), bogobe ba lerotse (sorghum porridge cooked in melon), morogo wa Setswana (leafy greens cooked in peanut sauce), iinkobe (boiled maize kernels), ikhowa (mushroom that grows after summer rains) that’s made into a beautiful vegetable stew (especially when meat is scarce) are just some of the many vegan foods that we consume – whether one is following a vegan lifestyle or not.

In cases where the monthly income is already stretched or cheaper cuts of meat are no longer an option, people can go for months without eating meat, especially in rural South Africa. So, the idea that we are a largely a meat/dairy consuming nation needs a new set of eyes. As much as meat features in almost every meal, for most families it features as an add-on, a luxury item. It compliments, but certainly doesn’t complete a dish because the food will be eaten, with or without it.

Even though most South Africans have not made a conscious decision to go vegan, they are not exactly non-vegans either. When I go to grandmother’s house in rural Eastern Cape as a vegan – I know I will be adequately nourished on a diet that does not include meat. This is to say that if we consume the traditional diets that include healthy carbs, fruits, leafy greens, maize, corn, sorghum and root vegetables that have nourished this nation for centuries and drastically limit or do away with highly processed, expensive foods then we would find that we save a lot on our monthly food budget. With just over 50% of the population living below the poverty line – it is time to make healthier, inexpensive food options that last longer and benefit our health.