Limited food options take their toll on the health of SA’s rural poor

Abstract

Food and nutrition Limited food options take their toll on the health of SA’s rural poor In the past 20 years, researchers have linked the increase of obesity and chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension in low-and middle-income countries to urbanisation, changing diets and less active lives. The spread of big retail food chains and fast food has also had an impact – increasing the availability of processed, high-energy, nutrient-poor foods and making them more affordable than fresh, healthy food. Though this is accurate, it does not entirely capture the realities of the rural, agrarian poor people and the nutrition challenges they face. Most South Africans’ food energy needs are adequately met and extreme hunger is a thing of the past. This is thanks, in part, to one of the largest cash-based social welfare programmes on the continent. But the reality is that rural poor people are among the most disempowered among food citizens. Most poor rural South Africans cannot afford a healthy, balanced diet with adequate fruits, vegetables and legumes.

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