Food Indaba 2024 returns to Cape Town

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Food Indaba features a range of events, both ticketed and free. Many are open to the public, while some, which are geared more toward academic and industry audiences, are by invitation only.

One of the informative free events for all to attend is the Pan African Webinar hosted by Afrifoodlinks. The online webinar titled 'Power and Hunger' is a significant discussion about the weaponising of hunger.

The annual in person conference with the same title, for the first time this year, will be a full day affair and will see the D-School (UCT’s design school) creating a Design-Dash, which is a design thinking problem solving toolkit around the solutions to food issues.

Home Economics…or Oikonomos?

The theme of this year’s Food Indaba is Oikonomos, the Greek root of the word Economics, literally meaning ‘home management’.

“This year's edition places food at the heart of the economy and brings the economy back into the home, reconnecting us with the traditional way we relate to food,” says Kurt Ackermann, chief executive and a trustee of the SA Urban Food & Farming Trust.

“How do our current food systems - the way food is produced, processed, distributed, consumed and disposed of - help or hinder our domestic lives? How does this in turn, impact our children and future generations? Can we engage less with branded, processed foods that often harm our bodies and the planet? This year, we'll explore these questions by starting with their impact in our homes, then looking at the broader economy, and finally recognizing our power to change what isn't working,” adds Ackermann.

The power to make change will be highlighted in a number of compelling events, like a foraging experience with Cape wild foods’ expert Loubie Rusch, whose knowledge of indigenous plants is astounding and a V&A Waterfront-wide focus on sustainable seafood.

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This year’s programme also includes a dynamic live-streamed Public Conversation webinar from Cape Town TV studio, around new significant food reports, which anyone can join online free of charge.

One of the strengths of Food Indaba is its multi-faceted approach to the issues of hunger, food security and food systems. This year’s two Master Classes, co-hosted by Oribi are geared toward our future food leaders: Food Systems 101 for Entrepreneurs (for Oribi’s intake of young food entrepreneurs) and Food Systems 101 for Hospitality Professionals, which is a food systems masterclass specifically tailored to people working within the hospitality sector, from scullers and waiters to sous chefs and managers.

For more, go to foodindaba.org