The above artworks are reflections on my honours research on maize consumption. Maize and maize meal hold a deeply sentimental place in the hearts and minds of many South Africans. This staple also has a complicated and muddy history in South Africa – with ties to the colonial and apartheid regimes as well as the mining industry.
This is a poem by Toni Giselle Stuart that uses words, phrases and ideas shared by all the chefs, sommeliers, farmers, writers, environmentalists, bush doctors, entrepreneurs, and allies at the first South African People of Colour at the Table Conference, in February 2019. It was the first-ever gathering of people of colour who work in South Africa’s food and related industries.