vegetables. |
Many people living near the farms of the Philippi Horticultural Area depend on them for cheap or free vegetables.
It is Saturday
morning on St Thomas Street in Lavender Hill. Two barefoot children are
fighting on the road while a man, apparently drunk, sways past. Then out
of an open garage, Ralph Bouwers appears. He says a few gentle words to
the brawling boys and gives them a hug. He tells them that soup is
being prepared and that they will get food soon.
Bouwers started the
Guardians of the National Treasure to provide food, love and care for
children and elderly people living in Lavender Hill. With Janet Gie, the
manager, he makes soup twice a week for several hundred children and a
growing number of elderly people.
While Bouwers
checks the simmering contents of the soup pot in the garage, Gie starts
cutting the vegetables for the next soup. "We don't have enough money
for more gas [burners], so we have to cook the soups one after the
other," says Ralph.
Fortunately, Nabeel
Brinkhuis, a farmer in the nearby Philippi Horticultural Area (PHA),
provides their kitchen with vegetables every week. On Fridays, Bouwers
drives out to the farm and collects the cut-offs and fresh vegetables
Nabeel gives him.
"We would not know how to feed all these people without Nabeel's help," says Bouwers.
"My work is all
over Lavender Hill. I grew up in this community and I want it to change,
to become a good place for young and old," he says. He delivers soup to
some of the homes in the area where elderly people and people with
disability live.
"My aim is to feed
children and old people every single day of the week. I can't do that
without free vegetables," says Bouwer. "Giving them meals in a safe and
loving environment restores dignity and gives them a little bit of
peace."
He believes hunger
fuels anger and substance abuse. "Can you imagine being a teenager
[here]? You're cold, hungry and lonely, and then someone offers you a
[drug] pipe with the promise you will feel better? And you do [feel
better] - for a little while. And in no time, you are hooked and
prepared to do anything for those who give you a feeling of belonging
somewhere and for the little piece of 'freedom' you get through [taking]
a drug."
The Vegi Boy
Households in
Grassy Park and Zeekoevlei have relied for over a decade on Gulam
Razack, the owner of Vegi Boy, a small shop on 5th Avenue. Every weekday
morning at 6am, Razack goes to the Philippi market, comparing, sorting
and buying fresh produce directly from the farmers of the PHA.
"It's easy for me
to keep my prices low as long as I can get my products directly from
Philippi, avoiding extra labour, distribution and transport costs," he
says.
He picks up a
cabbage. "This might cost me R10 per kilogram in Philippi, depending on
the time of the year ... In Stellenbosch the same quality cabbage will
cost me R15, making it 50% more expensive. But the transport and labour
time to get those vegetables from Stellenbosch would make the cabbage
about three times as expensive as it is now."
All vegetables sold in Razack's shop come from the PHA
'Business is about
family not money' is his philosophy. From the moment he opens at 9am
till he closes at 5pm his shop is seldom empty.
"We are here to
help the man on the street. Big companies like Pick 'n Pay, Food Lovers
Market, they can't afford to be flexible. They must stick to their
prices," he says. But at Vegi Boy, if someone is short on the amount
owed, he will give them a discount.
Some local soup kitchens also rely on him for free vegetables.
"All my meals contain vegetables and I offer different salad variations," says caterer Rochelle Pascucci
Other small shops
phone Razack and place orders with him. Local street vendors also earn
their living selling vegetables from the PHA for a small mark-up. If
everything wasn't this local, prices would probably rise if vegetables
were brought in from Paarl, Stellenbosch and Ceres.
If the PHA is developed for property, Razack says "the ordinary people on the street will lose the most".
Rochelle's Kitchen
Rochelle Pascucci
has loved preparing food since she was a child helping her grandmother.
She worked as a waitress, managed restaurants and worked in many
kitchens, sometimes with renowned South African chefs. Now she has her
own catering business and supper club.
On weekends she can
be found at the Zeekoevlei Yacht Club where she provides breakfast and
lunch for the sailors and visitors to the club.
"It is difficult
making healthy and good-tasting food for little money. No one can afford
the rising food prices. I buy a lot of the vegetables from street
vendors. The quality is very good, the prices affordable, and I know
they come from around the corner in Philippi," she says.
She says that without the PHA her business would probably have to close.
No comments:
Post a Comment