What’s on your plate?

According to the Indigo Wellness Index, South Africa is one of the unhealthiest nations in the world. This means that we are eating the wrong foods and our health is suffering.

Knorr would like to help South Africa move towards a better food future by providing stakeholders with information about how and what the nation is eating and how it affects our health.

To provide this information and help consumers make better food choices, Knorr commissioned Nielsen, a global measurement and data analytics company, to implement a study, ‘Understanding the Eating Habits of the South African Population’, in February 2020. There were 1 005 respondents from across South Africa of 16 years or older. The research objectives were multi-fold and included an understanding of the following: • Composition of the plate across different meal occasions, demographics and regions.

• Attitudes towards food and the link to health.

• Access to healthy food.

According to the study, the current South African plate consists of 41% starch and 26% meat with only 13% vegetables and the rest composed of fats and oils, dairy and legumes. This is consistent across all regions and demographics.

Breakfast generally has the largest proportion of starch, while dinner has the largest amount of meat. Meat is eaten on average four times a week, with poultry and red meat being the most popular. Starch is eaten six times a week, with bread, rice, potatoes and mielie meal being the most prevalent. Vegetable consumption is also four times a week, with cheaper fruits and vegetables consumed the most.

Eighty-two percent of the respondents thought that it had become easier to find healthy food within the past five years. But, only 52% thought healthy food was affordable.

Eighty-four percent of South Africans are meat eaters, 14% are flexitarians, 2% are vegetarians,

0,3% are pescatarians and 0,1% are vegans.

How do we fix the nation’s plate?

According to the Eatwell plate composition as defined by the University of Cambridge and the National Health Service in

the UK, a plate of food should consist of 33% vegetables, 32% starch, 15% dairy, 12% meat and 8% fats and oils.

By making small changes to our plate, we can help shape the health of the nation.

Whilst it is relevant to 58 million people, how each one of us changes our plate is personal, and this will have a positive ripple effect on our families and our communities.

It all starts with small, delicious changes.

We are fortunate that we have a rich history of food and agriculture; we can learn from how our ancestors ate. Crops rooted in heritage can once again have a place on our plate. Many of these nutritional crops were identified in Knorr and the World Wildlife Fund’s Future 50 Foods report, and include millet, cowpeas, bambara groundnut and mung beans, amongst others.

Chrislynn Ramdeo, marketing manager at Knorr, explains:

“We need to change the plate of our nation because, as Winston Churchill once said, healthy citizens are the greatest asset a country can have. Knorr is encouraging South Africans to choose to eat better by championing dietary diversity and more plant-based meals. Knorr wants to make healthy eating more accessible for all.”

• To see the full report, visit knorr.co.za.