Masters student Jessica Fortes reflects on her recently completed research.

As part of my Master’s research, I explored what happens when local food traditions and lifestyles come into contact—and often into conflict—with global food systems. It inspired the questions: In which ways and to what extent is a delocalisation of foodways taking place? What does this mean for the food rights and agency of local communities? And, in bringing attention to local foodways, how can global food systems be transformed and reimagined? Through two case studies, the research explored local foodways as social, cultural, and physical systems in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: the peri-urban location of KwaHhoHho and the rural area of Ingwavuma. The research aimed to obtain an understanding of community members’ lived experiences of their local foodways in each area. In-depth observations of participants’ foodways were garnered through semi-structured interviews conducted with selected residents in 2022 and 2023, together with walking interviews through the vegetation near their homes.

Disrupting and Reclaiming Local Foodways in Northern KwaZulu-Natal

Local foodways in northern KwaZulu-Natal are transforming in response to modernisation, climate change and global food systems. Participants in the case studies had observed these shifts, revealing the interplay between food, everyday life, culture, and environment. While traditional food practices persist, they are increasingly challenged by external pressures.

Shifting Food Sources and Practices

“The stores are for the things of today” (Participant 23, KwaHhoHho, 2022).

Participants in both study areas reported a shift from homegrown and foraged foods to store-bought alternatives. Although experienced at a different level, trends of a delocalisation of foodways could be observed in both areas. These were traced to increasing challenges to farm as a result of climate and landscape change as well as lack of support provided to subsistence farmers.

“Food and culture are being challenged by climate and landscape change. There are crops that you don’t see anymore because of drought and because  few people are growing.” (Participant 41, Mtubatuba, 2024)

This was coupled with social pushes such as modernisation of the areas, lifestyle shifts and youth aspirations. Elder participants expressed concerns over the erosion of their connection to nature and heritage, while younger generations show decreasing interest in traditional food practices.

Once I came back with it [maize], I carried it by myself and put it into the mill machine myself. As we ate, they told me ‘Mom we can’t eat this.’ Now I usually buy it for myself where I collect my pension. People are doing what is relevant to them now, they did not grow up in the time when we were eating isipata [maize which has been kept underground]. When you tell the children of today about isipata no one knows about it. I don’t think they will ever plant maize. Because they have to prepare stews, they can plant things like spinach but not maize. They don’t want to farm, I think they farm at the stores” (Participant 7, Ingwavuma, 2022).

In KwaHhoHho, urbanisation and market reliance have accelerated this transition, while Ingwavuma retains more traditional food practices due to its rural setting. Despite this, both communities have those who continue farming, with elders playing a key role in preserving traditional knowledge.

“It is very important to teach children how to farm and to know their way around the garden. I may die one day so the knowledge of farming is important for them to possess because it helps them not to rely on the shops. This will help them during tough times because they will know that they can farm which is why I farm with them.” (Participant 24, KwaHhoHho, 2022).

Globalisation and Agricultural Changes

The reason why I plant these types of food is that they are healthy for the body. Foods such as sorghum and butternut squash are able to heal the body from certain illnesses. There is no need for eating store-bought food which is treated with chemicals, you eat food from home. Life is always good because we plant and grow our foods naturally (Participant 24, KwaHhoHho, 2022).

The expansion of global food systems has introduced industrial farming practices that disrupt traditional foodways. The gradual adoption of genetically modified seeds, synthetic fertilizers, and monocropping threatens traditional farming practices such as seed-saving networks and companion planting methods. While these shifts were subtle at the time of research, government agricultural programs and corporate influence indicate further changes may still come.

Resisting and Reclaiming Foodways

Despite these disruptions, local food systems persist as sites of resilience. Elders uphold food traditions, passing down knowledge even as modern influences grow. Non-government organisations such as Biowatch South Africa support traditional agriculture, countering industrial food production. Balancing innovation with heritage remains a key challenge for communities navigating these transformations.

“I believe that when traditional food is cooked or planted it brings us closer as a family than the store-bought food which we don’t have the money to buy.” (Participant 15, Ingwavuma, 2022).

Local foodways are in flux, shaped by both disruption and reclamation. While external forces challenge traditional practices, communities continue to find ways to adapt and resist. The future of local food systems lies in maintaining continuity with the past while embracing sustainable change.

“Traditional food gives us strength, it’s healthier and makes us alive so that we are not weak, it gives us power” (Participant 31, KwaHhoHho, 2022)

This research aligns with global food system studies that reveal a process of delocalisation in foodways, driven by both social and environmental shifts. As this process unfolds, the ability of communities to define their own foodways—and their agency within them—is increasingly threatened by dependence on global markets and industrial agriculture. Local foodways, however, offer a linkage with the past and community culture, while also holding future possibilities. By observing and engaging with these practices, we can use local foodways as a tool to reimagine global food systems—making them more symbiotic with nature, culturally significant, locally relevant, and sustainable.