‘The power of food’ — Ladles of Love tackles nutrition in early childhood development centres

Young learners at Takalani Educare and Aftercare in Dunoon, Cape Town, benefit from the food parcels provided by Ladles of Love. 25 February 2025. (Photo: Tamsin Metelerkamp)

By Tamsin Metelerkamp

26 Feb 2025

Nonprofit organisation Ladles of Love is tackling food insecurity in the early childhood development sector by providing balanced food parcels to early learning centres in the Western Cape, Northern Cape and Gauteng.

The founder of Ladles of Love, Danny Diliberto, is a firm believer that you need to give in order to get back. In line with this philosophy, his nonprofit organisation is combating food insecurity in the early childhood development (ECD) sector by providing about 15 tonnes of food to early learning centres every week.

The Nourish Our Children programme, which serves 50 centres in Cape Town, 15 in Johannesburg and five in the Northern Cape, ensures that 6,500 small children get two nutritious meals a day.

food insecurity Ladles of Love The Ladles of Love warehouse in Cape Town on 25 February 2025. The nonprofit distributes about 15 tonnes of food to early childhood development centres every week. (Photo: Tamsin Metelerkamp)

“We started connecting with early childhood development centres during the Covid-19 pandemic, because they all shut down and became soup kitchens. But when Covid started disappearing and they reopened, we stayed with them,” he said.

“A lot of schools are supported by the government and other organisations, but many of these early childhood development centres get very little or no support, and seeing this, we decided to really start focusing on the ECDs and ensuring that they get proper food.”

Poor nutrition among young children has long been a concern in South Africa’s early childhood development sector. In the South African Child Gauge 2024, which focused on ECD, it was reported that the country had “persistently high stunting rates”, estimated at 27% in 2016 and 29% around 2022. Stunting is when a child is too short for their age as a result of chronic or recurrent malnutrition.

Nomonde Kweza, a farmer from Gugulethu, helps to pack fresh produce at the Ladles of Love warehouse in Cape Town on 25 February 2025. Kweza is one of several local farmers who supply the nonprofit with vegetables. (Photo: Tamsin Metelerkamp)

Food is prepared at Takalani Educare and Aftercare in Dunoon, Cape Town, on 25 February 2025. The centre receives food parcels from Ladles of Love. (Photo: Tamsin Metelerkamp)

The right food

Ladles of Love worked with nutritionists and dieticians to come up with a balanced food parcel that could be distributed to ECDs, with staples such as oats, soya mince, rice, baked beans, pilchards and assorted vegetables. The organisation provides training for principals at the early learning centres, centred on proper nutrition for pupils.

“It just shows the power of food, and that it’s not just about giving food to the children. It’s what it does for that ECD as a whole, what it does for the community, because the parents are seeing the difference in their children,” Diliberto said.

“We’ve worked out that R250 feeds a child a month.”

Nomalizo Jaxa, principal of Takalani Educare and Aftercare in Dunoon, Cape Town, says the food parcels from Ladles of Love have improved the pupils’ health and nutrition. (Photo: Tamsin Metelerkamp)

Nomalizo Jaxa, principal of Takalani Educare and Aftercare in Dunoon, Cape Town, has been receiving food parcels from Ladles of Love for two years. Her centre looks after 100 local children between the ages of six months and six years.

“[Ladles of Love] made a big difference… The challenge was that we were giving the kids food that wasn’t healthy,” Jaxa said. “Before Ladles of Love came to our centre, we were giving the kids one meal every day – the meal I could afford – which was pap... and soup. Just pap and soup every day.”

Takalani Educare doesn’t receive funding from the government. Jaxa said that many ECDs in Dunoon struggle to meet the requirements for registration with the Department of Basic Education, which means they aren’t eligible for the ECD subsidy. While Takalani charges fees, some parents struggle to make payments due to job insecurity.

Young pupils at Takalani Educare and Aftercare in Dunoon, Cape Town, benefit from the food parcels provided by Ladles of Love. (Photo: Tamsin Metelerkamp)

“I don’t chase [them away] because the vision with which I opened Takalani was to change my community. It’s not like I’m after money,” Jaxa said.

Jaxa’s decision to found Takalani Educare came after she observed the high rates of violence and sexual abuse to which local children were exposed. Many parents had taken to transporting their kids out of the community for better schooling and security. By starting her own early childhood development centre, Jaxa aimed to provide a safe space for pupils – especially those whose families couldn’t afford to send them elsewhere.

Pupils at Takalani Educare and Aftercare in Dunoon, Cape Town on 25 February 2025. (Photo: Tamsin Metelerkamp)

Community networks

Ladles of Love began with a single soup kitchen for Cape Town’s unhoused community in 2014. Since then, its network has grown, encompassing not only early childhood development centres but also community farmers.

Through its Feed the Soil programme, it turns household food waste into compost that it provides to community farmers for free. It also buys fresh produce from these farmers to use in its food parcels for ECDs. When Daily Maverick visited the Ladles of Love warehouse in Cape Town on Tuesday, Nomonde Kweza, a farmer from Gugulethu, was packing freshly harvested carrots, eggplants and celery for distribution.

Diliberto said: “Ladles of Love is about touching people’s lives in a positive way, with love, dignity and respect. That’s our ‘why’; that’s our North Star.” DM

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The right food

Community networks