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What’s Eating us? Maverick Citizen launches second season of food justice podcast

What’s Eating us? Maverick Citizen launches second season of food justice podcast
Acute levels of hunger and starvation are rising sharply all over our country, leading to malnutrition, which sadly, goes largely undetected in poor communities. (Photo: Black Star / Spotlight)
Naledi Sikhakhane and Lillian Roberts
By Naledi Sikhakhane and Lillian Roberts
2 Jul 2024
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Maverick Citizen managing editor Zukiswa Pikoli spoke to researchers, food producers, health experts and food justice advocates to find out what creates hunger, malnutrition and food poverty in South Africa

The first episode starts at the foundation of health, where experts share the pros and cons of breastfeeding versus formula milk in an episode titled Latch on: why breast is best. Pikoli then weaves the story of health through life stages, talking about early childhood nutrition, young adults, and how men and women are affected by  noncommunicable diseases due to hunger and malnutrition. 

The podcast shares findings by investigative journalist Adele Sulcas on the impact of child-targeted marketing and growing child obesity patterns, which lead in adulthood to a vulnerability to fatal noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, stroke and heart diseases.

Pikoli travelled as far as northern KwaZulu-Natal to find the stories of food producers such as small-scale fish and crop farmers who find themselves hungry and unable to access markets. She circled back closer to her home city, Pretoria, to talk to inspirational people, including the project manager at the Siyakhana Growth and Development NPO, Mapenane Kgatitsoe. She took Pikoli on a visit to schools in the Tshwane township of Atteridgeville and shared the intricacies and solutions to provide healthy, balanced meals to young minds. 

All episodes are hosted and produced by Pikoli, recorded at Flame Studios at Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, and edited by Martin Nkanyiso Ngwenya.

The podcast will leave you educated, a little frustrated, potentially surprised but also inspired by people doing what they can in their different spaces to create a well-nourished and healthy South Africa. 

In Episode 1, Pikoli questions the benefits of breastmilk for newborns versus formula milk. Dr Chantell Witten, a senior lecturer in paediatrics and a dietitian, along with dietitian and lactation specialist Phunyuka Bvuma-Ngwenya, speak about the evidence underpinning the economic and health benefits of breastfeeding, the rare situations formula is called for, and when it can be avoided, with the right familial, healthcare and social support. 

breastfeeding (Photo: mamava.com / Unsplash)



The second season is an audio culmination of the food justice work Maverick Citizen has been doing in the past year. Below are brief overviews of each episode. 

“Food justice” refers to the idea that everyone should have access to healthy and sustainable food. The concept comes from the food justice movement, which recognises the link between food, health and the environment. The term has existed for at least 20 years but its meaning has evolved. Generally, though, supporters of food justice advocate access to food as a human right. What’s Eating us? Carefully weaves the connection between environmental issues, inequality, food industry regulation, farming and nutrition.

Sweetened Stigma — how formula is manipulating mothers 


In Episode 2, Pikoli continues her conversation with Witten and Bvuma-Ngwenya about the layers of stigma attached to breastfeeding in South Africa. From the HIV era and the proliferation of formula, to the working moms of today, it may mean only the super-supported can be the “super moms” of breastfeeding. Audience questions are answered. 

Gumbu is a village of small-scale commercial farmers who sell their produce at markets in Gauteng and Limpopo. (Photo: Lucas Ledwaba / Mukurukuru Media)


Growing food for children’s growth Part 1


Mapenane Kgatitsoe, project manager at the Siyakhana Growth and Development NPO, is responsible for school nutrition guidance in Tshwane. 

Read more in Daily Maverick: Tshwane schools set up food gardens to supplement the government nutrition scheme and boost the curriculum

She takes Pikoli to three of the schools she works with in the Tshwane township of Atteridgeville and talks about the work they do in the areas’ six no-fee paying schools to promote healthier eating habits, create consistent food from gardens, and transfer skills to people living in urban environments. 

Growing food for children’s growth Part 2 


Aside from the National School Nutrition Programme, what happens to children after school? How balanced and nutritious is their diet? How do we ensure children have fresh vegetables regularly? How do we improve the government’s response to food insecurity? Pikoli accompanies Kgatitsoe to schools in Atteridgeville where she talks about the intricacies and solutions.

Rural farming in the informal settlement of Duduza on 9 June 2020 in Duduza, Gauteng. (Photo: Gallo Images / OJ Koloti)


The roots of eating right Part 1: A young woman farmer’s perspective


Nontobeko Khanyile from Cato Ridge in KwaZulu-Natal has been a farmer since she was seven years old. She tells Pikoli how she first got into managing her own plot of land, studied agriculture, and what her work entails in her various leadership roles, including starting her own business, the Ezemvelo farming projects. From training young people and selling food via social media, to donating fresh food to crèches and promoting backyard food gardens, and alternatives to pesticides, Khanyile explains why organic, fresh farming is key to the nation’s health. 

The roots of eating right — a woman farmer’s perspective Part 2


Khanyile talks about the impacts of climate change on her crops, focusing on soil health, pesticides and how water factors into her farming. She also touches on how organic food takes its own time – growing slowly, with all the nutrients your body needs. 

The bay of empty: Small-scale fishers fight for rights 


In this episode, we’re introduced to the history of mining, industrialisation, and access to the ocean in apartheid South Africa.

Maverick Citizen travelled to the rural KZN town of Kosi Bay where Pikoli met local fisher Lindani Ngobane, who is part of the Masifundise Development Trust. He’s been fighting for the rights of small-scale fishers to be included in the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment policy which will allow them to be subsistence fishers. He’s also been mobilising his community through a fishing co-op.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_W3QBz9cPY

Food, transport, electricity and debt: The monthly dance of the poor Part 1


Pikoli speaks to Mervyn Abraham, programme coordinator at the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group, which tracks what is in the monthly food basket for a family of seven. He says increasing food prices are shrinking the basket as people struggle with other costs. He also highlights why a country with such high inequality needed statistics on the low-income households in the first place, and what the current structural issues are in South Africa. 

Food, transport, electricity and debt: The monthly dance of the poor Part 2


Abraham talks about the way the food system operates for farmworkers, farm owners and the retail sector, and how it could change for the better. He also goes into detail about why the primary concern for people is transport, then electricity, debt and, lastly, food.

food justice Acute levels of hunger and starvation are rising sharply all over our country, leading to malnutrition, which goes largely undetected in poor communities. (Photo: Black Star / Spotlight)


Addiction, Availability and the Unknown: Why we need better labels Part 1


In Episode 10, proposed regulations about front-of-package labelling are discussed by public health legal and policy researcher Petronell Kruger and the programme manager of Heala, Nzama Mbalati, to understand why the labelling of ultra-processed foods would help stem the rise of non-communicable diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure — major causes of death globally and locally.  Maverick Citizen Managing Editor Zukiswa Pikoli asks what demographic is at risk of eating Ultra Processed Foods (UPFs) and who needs the new regulations the most. 

Addiction, Availability and the Unknown: Why we need better labels Part 2


Part 2 delves deeper into the unhealthy food marketed towards children, moral and legal considerations, and how the regulations present an opportunity for parents to make better decisions. Petronell Kruger, public health legal and policy researcher, and Nzama Mbalati, the programme manager of Heala, talk to Pikoli about why the food and beverage industry needs state regulation rather than self-regulation, with local evidence and anecdotes that hit home. DM

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