LISTEN: Season 3 of Maverick Citizen podcast ‘What’s Eating Us?’

Zukiswa Pikoli, Maverick Citizen editor, travelled to the Western Cape to get the perspectives of people who grow our food. They spoke out about pesticide exposure and the struggle for a fair wage, despite the very real possibility of losing their livelihoods.

She then trundled through the bumpy dirt roads to Nqileni village in the Eastern Cape, where an NGO is working to improve the lives of children and adults, both locally and also through national policy advocacy.

She returned to Johannesburg to get a firsthand account of food insecurity in Bertrams and to meet one young person who is committed to community. She also spoke to an owner of an alternative grocery store — only organic, and only driven to healthier food choices in a fast-paced city.

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

Episode 1: Poisoned Producers – perilous working conditions of farmworkers who feed South Africa

Charmaine King, a seasonal farmworker, speaks to Maverick Citizen editor Zukiswa Pikoli about pesticide exposure, her working and living conditions on the Stellenbosch farm she works on, and what it is like to be food-insecure despite being a food producer in South Africa. She also spoke about her hopes for the future of agricultural workers in the country.

Episode 2, Part 1: Feeding a nation & farmworkers’ food insecurity

Dr Kara Mackay of the Women on Farms project outlines to Maverick Citizen editor Zukiswa Pikoli what her role is in the NGO, why the organisation was created and how it supports women farmworkers in the Northern and Western Cape.

Episode 3, Part 2: Feeding a nation & farmworkers’ food insecurity

Dr Kara Mackay of the Women on Farms project is back in conversation with Maverick Citizen editor Zukiswa Pikoli, talking about the structural causes of a lack of transformation in commercial agriculture, and what the government should do to change the lives of food producers.

Episode 4: From Nqileni to National Policy – the grassroots mobilisation for water and early childhood development

Maverick Citizen editor Zukiswa Pikoli talks to Tshepo Mantjé, an advocate for early childhood development and a Right to ECD coordinator at the Equality Collective (based in Nqileni village, Eastern Cape), about what the organisation does, why they chose to work with the people of Nqileni and what the challenges are with access to justice, infrastructure, nutrition and early childhood development.

Episode 5, Part 2: From Nqileni to National Policy: The grassroots mobilisation for water and early childhood development

Maverick Citizen editor Zukiswa Pikoli is back in conversation with Tshepo Mantjé, advocate for early childhood development and a right to ECD coordinator at the Equality Collective (based in Nqileni village, Eastern Cape), to talk about the national policy on early childhood development, areas for improvement with nutrition and policy implementation, educating people about early nutrition and encouraging them to get involved in their own communities, as well as his personal experience on the ground – from slow wins in the ECD sector, to the indigenous knowledge keepers in the Eastern Cape.

Episode 6: Living off the land – a subsistence farmers’ way of life

Maverick Citizen editor Zukiswa Pikoli talks to subsistence farmer Mam Nothembile Malaile from Nqileni village in the Eastern Cape about how she has worked the land for two decades to feed her family, and what she grows on her hillside plot that faces the lagoon, as well as the soap-making she is involved with and how she passed on her farming skills to her children and grandchildren.

Episode 7, Part 1: Urban food insecurity – a story about Johannesburg

Maverick Citizen editor Zukiswa Pikoli is back in conversation with Refiloe Sibisi, who works at The People’s Pantry in Bertrams, Johannesburg. She talks about her grappling with shame, homegrown solutions to hunger and ways to replicate The People’s Pantry model elsewhere. Sibisi also discusses the reality of xenophobia and fighting for resources in Bertrams, as well as creating a safe space within the community, sharing nutritional information while pregnant, government obligations and the rise of individualism.

Episode 8, Part 2: Urban food insecurity – a story about Johannesburg

Maverick Citizen editor Zukiswa Pikoli is in conversation with Refiloe Sibisi, who works at The People’s Pantry in Bertrams, Johannesburg. She outlines what young people struggle with in tertiary education, and about mental health issues through the generations due to lack of income and food insecurity. She also talks about how The People’s Pantry works with recycling, a swap shop and providing food.

Episode 9, Part 1: Hidden hunger – how to close the micronutrient gap in South Africa

Maverick Citizen editor Zukiswa Pikoli speaks to Liezel Engelbrecht, nutrition lead at the DG Murray Trust. She recently led research into the fortification space in South Africa, where our bread and mielie meal are fortified with minerals and vitamins, as per government requirements. She speaks about micronutrient deficiencies and health issues such as anaemia, stunting and malnutrition, the need for protein-rich food and the safety concerns of eating fortified foods. She also goes into the need for monitoring and evaluation of fortification producers in South Africa.

Episode 10, Part 2: Hidden hunger – how to close the micronutrient gap in South Africa

Maverick Citizen editor Zukiswa Pikoli continues her discussion with Liezel Engelbrecht, nutrition lead at the DG Murray Trust. She recently led research into the fortification space in South Africa, where our bread and mielie meal are fortified with minerals and vitamins, as per government requirements. She speaks about the possibility of a maternal support grant and how it could be a cost-effective way to minimise costs to the public health sector, and about aid nutrition and early childhood development.

Episode 11: Mind, Body, Market – the journey towards creating an alternative grocery system

Gary Jackson, owner of Jackson’s Real Food Market and Eatery, joins Maverick Citizen editor Zukiswa Pikoli to talk about his journey in the food industry – from working in fast food to focusing on an alternative grocery store system based on healthy organic foods – and mending his mind and body.