Despite the challenges facing the food and beverage industry as a result of COVID-19, The Poké Co founder, Andrew Flanagan has just opened his fourth store. Poké Co Claremont opened at 12 Dreyer Street on the 14th August 2020. To celebrate its launch, Poké Co gave away 100 free poke bowls in just one hour – the response was incredible and the queue extended the length of the … [Read more...]
Online training: Biodynamics and its role in agriculture
The Biodynamic Agricultural Association of Southern Africa will be hosting a monthly webinar via Zoom: 25 July - Session 1: Farm organism and the origin and role of biodynamics in agriculture. 29 August - Session 2: A phenomenological approach to soil, plants and animals. 26 September - Session 3: Farm fertility, biodynamic preparations and compost. 31 October - … [Read more...]
Climate action at community-level: African solutions that really work
Sufficient access to energy and resilient infrastructure are essential to realise the potential of African cities. Three years ago, a series of local-level solutions made five communities very happy. We revisit them to find out if the solutions were, in fact, sustainable. Through the Urban Low Emissions Development Strategies (Urban-LEDS ll) project, ICLEI Africa assisted … [Read more...]
Cape Town mayor donates much-needed equipment to soup kitchens
Mayor Dan Plato has donated to nearly 150 soup kitchens across Cape Town. Last week, the second phase of handovers to capacitate neighbourhood soup kitchens began in Hanover Park, Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha. ‘We are nearing an important milestone in our drive to feed communities affected by the national lockdown. Today’s handover in Strand means we are reaching even … [Read more...]
Growing in the now
When the news broke it hit me in the chest. I have a high-risk child on immune suppressant drugs. Have fought so hard for him. My own lungs are damaged from embolisms. My other 2 smoke. Brutal. Yet all of life is at any given moment perched on the tip of a pin. Life had taught me that many times. The news unfolded in waves of shock… then the conflicting stories… matched by … [Read more...]
Supporting farm workers with food baskets during lockdown
The Covid-19 crisis will also be a hunger crisis. The PHA Food & Farming Campaign are deeply concerned about the impact the lockdown will have on their farmland communities. The PHA Food & Farming Campaign is initiating a drive to support 1550 vulnerable families in the Philippi Horticultural Area with food baskets during the Covid-19 lockdown. These families are … [Read more...]
Let’s turn the corner on food wastage
If you take a moment to digest the statistics around the amount of food we waste today, it can be pretty overwhelming. It is thought that around one third of the food produced around the globe is lost or wasted. Richer countries waste something like 222 million tonnes per year, in Europe and North America that equates to 95-115kg of food per person, per year. The numbers are … [Read more...]
Langa garden helping to feed future sports heroes
“Siya Kolisi” enthralls spectators in the streets of Langa, Cape Town, with his tackles and accurate passes, but this is not the 28-year-old Springbok captain. It is in fact 13-year-old Luxolo Ntsholo who has adopted the moniker. The Grade 7 pupil will be jetting to Tokyo, Japan, next year to represent South Africa at the 2020 Olympic Games. A learner at the Mokone Primary … [Read more...]
About 30% of food produced in Mzansi is lost or wasted
It is estimated that one-third of the food produced globally for human consumption is lost or wasted along the supply chain. This is a whopping 1.3 billion metric tons of food that doesn’t ever reach the consumer. Most of the food loss occurs during transit from farm to fork, especially to urban markets. Food losses represents a waste of land, water, energy, financial, … [Read more...]
Can I be vegan and biodynamic?
Whether someone wishes to eat meat or not is a very individual decision. Some people feel the need to eat meat regularly while others become ill if they so much as smell it. It can be for reasons of personal health and it can be a matter of principle. Either way being a vegetarian or a vegan is a very noble aspiration and one which need not conflict with biodynamic … [Read more...]
SA’s most environmentally responsible restaurants to be recognised
Entries have opened for South Africa’s most prestigious accolade for restaurants contributing to more socially and environmentally responsible practices. Introduced in 2016, the Eat Out Woolworths Sustainability Award acknowledges the restaurant that brings its customers seasonal, local and ethically sourced produce with minimal impact on the surrounding environment while … [Read more...]
Fight to preserve fertile Cape Flats farmland
Those who want land are not necessarily after a big, remote farm. We visited three urban farming ventures to find out what it means to farm in the Philippi Horticultural Area. A community-based organisation, the PHA Food and Farming Campaign, is challenging further development in the area in the Western Cape High Court. Read the full article at News24. … [Read more...]
Cool clean tech to tackle climate change
South African entrepreneurs are taking climate change seriously: Water filters made from macadamia nut shells, a mobile solar-powered kiosk for charging phones in off-grid areas, vegetable growing systems using recycled plastic bags, and a machine that turns any type of waste into energy (gas) or diesel. At the SEED South Africa Symposium held in Pretoria recently, … [Read more...]
