Members of the Mail & Guardian newsroom are going to try see what it is like to live off R6 a day and we challenge you to join our initiative and do the same. The logistics of it are hard, but this is about making food security a national conversation.
South Africa is currently food secure – it produces enough food to feed its population. But there is massive inequality in where that food goes. The top 10% of households spend around R29 000 a year on food. This is 10% of their income. The bottom 25% spend R8 700 on food – or half of their income.
Food security is about how much money you have. Around 14-million South Africans do not know where their next meal will come from because they cannot afford enough food to feed their families. Another 15-million are on the verge of going hungry. To survive, people reduce their food portions and skip meals. When they do get food, it is often of poor nutritional quality. This leads to people being overweight or undernourished, depriving them of their potential.
However you do it, we would like you to join us on Thursday — the United Nations World Food Day — in trying to live off R6 a day. How you do it is up to you. But we would like you to share your experience and thoughts across any social media platforms you use.
We need to talk more about food.