What did you do for Mandela Day 2014?

July 20, 2014, by Lisa Saville

I wasn’t sure what to expect as I headed off to Stellenbosch in an ethanol powered bus on Fri 18th July 2014.  As a flagship member of the Western Cape Governments 110% Green Initiative, Hot Ink had been invited to take part in the launch of their new project whilst giving back to the community on Mandela Day.

We arrived at Spier Wine farm where Premier Helen Zille introduced the “Food Forward” project which is all about minimising food wastage in our country (which we learned currently sits at a staggering figure of approximately 30% of all food produced). We were then split into 8 teams and given 67 minutes to prepare 250 litres of soup! My diverse team which included Cape Talk Radio host, Africa Melane, made a massive cauldron of butternut and ginger soup.  The competition was hosted by Masterchef Peter Goffe-Wood and judged by Silwood Kitchens finest, and although our team didn’t win the contest for the best soup, we all had the most amazing time.

It was an incredible experience for many reasons: I was shocked at the statistics of how much food we currently waste, but inspired by all the people who gave up their day to come and prepare food for those in need.  Not only that, but every person who attended this event was also committed to doing what they do in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way. Whether it was planting trees, creating biofuel, saving energy or educating others on Green outlets, everyone I met had a positive story to tell.  I learned how one persons dream grew and gained momentum to become a full scale, functioning success story, and I heard about many projects that were still on the way. We can’t change the world in a day but we can each start today to make our change…

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