Big Food raises a big question

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nutritional food and 25% of children suffer from chronic malnutrition, said Ledger. “Clearly, our food system doesn’t work for us.”

Between the agriculture business, manufacturers, retail chains and social grants, the system is fairly effective in providing the population with a diet that contains adequate calorie intake but is poor in terms of quality, Du Toit said. “It works to promote ultra-processed products, which are high in added sugars, fats and sodium. These are energy-dense but nutrient-poor. We have concurrently seen rapidly rising figures for diabetes and obesity as the consequence of a poor quality diet,” he said.

Ledger said: “The fact of the matter is that the role of a private company is to maximise profits for its shareholder … it is not the retailer’s job to ensure everyone has access to adequate nutrition.”

In deregulating the food industry post-apartheid, Ledger said the 1996 Marketing of Agricultural Products Act in effect removed the government’s power to intervene in agricultural markets to improve food security and nutrition. Still, section 27 of the Constitution makes clear access to basic nutrition every child’s right.

“Government does nothing to act on this … It is an astonishing omission,” Ledger said.

One consequence of fewer players in an industry is that jobs are squeezed out, Du Toit said. “In some ways, the presence of supermarkets has helped informal food service vendors in the former townships so one shouldn’t oversimplify issues. [But] it is clear our agricultural sectors are shedding jobs. Supermarkets are price makers and farmers are price takers. Small farmers are finding it difficult to survive in this difficult environment.”

Jobs in commercial agriculture dropped from 1.3-million in the 1980s to between 700000 and 900 000 in 2016.

Du Toit said there are a number of good reasons to support smallholder farmers, not least because agriculture in rural areas acts as a social safety net for the poorest of the poor.

“In an economy with little prospect of employment in the urban areas to replace those lost on farms, highly concentrate food systems in a way manufacture poverty as it pushes people off the land and leaves them with no alternative. It creates conditions for serious political instability,” Du Toit warned.

Breaking up the food industry is difficult as it is disruptive, said Makgetla. “It makes sense in some cases but we need to be aware of the cost.”

Purchase said it is necessary for smaller players, including smallholder and new entrant farmers, to access the commercial value chains. This will only be possible with a welldirected support programme, and preferably in partnership with the private sector, he said. Generally, there are support measures that can be introduced, “and, currently, there are already a number being implemented through various measures, and very successfully at that”.

Makgetla said current interventions were working but were not on a large enough scale. “People have been waiting 20 years for change, and the current rate is too slow.” The frustration gives rise to populism, she said.

Quick fixes might include interventions such as setting up shelves in supermarkets to be supplied with seasonal produce by local producers, with less stringent standards on quality and packaging, or providing space for food stalls outside of supermarkets.

But to be effective on a larger scale will require a holistic approach to address supply-side constraints and market access. Much will need to be done.

“We tend to give people money but the market institutions they need just don’t exist. We should be setting up institutions and support systems