Never Just Food:
Nourishment, Science and Culture in Southern Africa
Convenors: Prof Mehita Iqani (SU) and Prof Sarah Gibson (UKZN)
In May 2023, the Never Just Food Symposium was held. With 26 researchers, the symposium sought to create a space for interdisciplinary conversations around food, and the role that it plays in society. The symposium was interested in both scientific evidence on and around food and cultural analysis of and into it, and aimed to bring together these two spheres of knowledge production into an integrated conversation about the meanings and politics of food in the specific context of here (Southern Africa) and now (as intertwined climate and political crises deepen).
Some of the themes that the Symposium focused on were:
- Food Culture and Food Media
- Food Science
- Food Environments and Food Sustainability
- Food for/and Health Wellbeing
- The Political Economies of Eating
Following the conclusion of the Symposium, the Convenors are currently working on an edited book with contributions from symposium speakers. Details of the book will be made public once finalised.
If you have any enquiries about the publication or the symposium, please send an email to scicomm@sun.ac.za.