The heat was on in the kitchen of the Food Jams in Woodstock as eight local farmers had the opportunity to cook with chefs creating plant-based and wild-food meals.
The aim was to link chefs with farmers for a cook-up to draw attention among chefs towards small-scale farmers producing local indigenous crops and wild edible weeds around the city.
On Monday 25 July eight chefs teamed up with eight farmers from different community gardens to cook up plant-based and wild-food meals.
The concept was organised by Abalimi Bezekhaya, a non-profit organisation that supports people in the townships around the city to grow vegetables organically for home and community gardens.
Babalwa Mpayipeli, assistant field manager at Abalimi Bezekhaya, says the organisation also provides training, access to resources, market access support, infrastructure and organisational development support.
Mpayipeli says: “We are linking the farmer with the top chefs in Cape Town so that they are able to establish a relationship to sell their produce directly to the restaurants and hotels.
“We have eight farmers and eight chefs cooking together with the hope that they will build a relationship while cooking and share knowledge and contacts so that they can have longer lasting relationships.”
She explains that the farmers run food gardens in Nyanga, Khayelitsha and Gugulethu among others.
“The idea was to showcase to growers the creative ideas that chefs come up with using lesser-known produce or weeds.”
Manelisi Mapukata, an organic farmer at Manelisi Urban Farm in Gugulethu, says: “I was so glad to be here. We cooked two dishes. I learnt a lot, not only about farming but also how to make food with the produce. I would encourage other people and tell them you can make any meal with vegetables especially if it’s organic.”
Thozama Sikiti owns a garden in Khayelitsha named Masiphile Peace Project. She says: “I learnt a lot. I didn’t know there is weed called ice plant; I have a lot of it in my garden and I learnt how to cook it. It was nice to be here with all of the farmers and all of the chefs. We cooked soup with spinach. I learnt how to cook parsley and ice plant.”
While Nokwanda Nkqaya, an organic farmer from Khayelitsha, says: “We were cooking potatoes with cheese, we also had a starter of beetroot in vinegar and herbs. Everything I have learnt here I can now apply at home. From this experience I plan to open a kitchen where I can cook healthy food for the community.”
Gaby Palmer, Communications Manager at Mount Nelson Hotel, says they became involved with the organisation a few years ago.
“We had a salad on our menu called Abalimi Bezekhaya. Most of our guest are international so they would see this on the menu and ask about it. This is a great opportunity for our wait staff to tell them about the work of the organisation.”
James Fernie, Uthando (Love) South Africa, an organisation that links tourism with community development projects, says their organisation showcases the work farmers are doing.
“We run excursions where we take people to visit these gardens. People have a perception that the township is just poverty stricken and violent, but when you get to walk around some of these gardens where there are organic micro farms people are inspired by the story.”
