Cheap meals on wheels
NORWOOD – Norwood residents recently experienced this initiative when the bus made a stop at Paterson Park.
Food inflation rates have no doubt affected those at the bottom of the economic barrel the most.
Organisations are constantly making efforts to provide food for those in need either through charity hand-overs or at affordable prices.
The recently founded social enterprise Skhaftin Bus is one such initiative which sells food to communities at reasonable prices. The term ‘skhaftin’ is a South African word for lunch box and thus shoppers can bring their lunch boxes to fill them with a variety of food.
Skhaftin Bus made a recent stop in Norwood courtesy of community action network, Noah Can.
Consultant Ilka Stein of Skhaftin Bus said after the experience of lockdown last year, they’ve been working with different community action networks. “We started asking ourselves what can be more of a long-term solution because food parcels and soup kitchens are great but what are more sustainable ways?
“We found an old bus, converted it ourselves and took the seats out and on either side put a shelf with metal containers into which dry foods are placed. All this was done with the help of local people from the community and since the beginning of March we are promoting it mostly in our community,” said Stein.
“We then came across zero-waste concepts. So one brings their own container, you weigh it, fill it up with whatever you want in the quantity you need and you weigh it again, then you pay for the quantity you bought and not for the container or packaging.”
For example, she said if by the end of the week one was left with R20, they would only be able to buy a packet of instant porridge, samp or rice but with their initiative, one could buy rice for R10, lentils for R5 and add some spices for R5, and all of a sudden their R20 bought a whole meal which was nutritious and healthy.
She said the mobility of their initiative enabled them to reach out to more community action networks in various communities and they had arranged to make a stop at Noah Can’s food distribution sites every second Thursday.
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Related articles:
https://www.citizen.co.za/rosebank-killarney-gazette/354894/join-noah-can-in-the-fight-against-hunger/
https://www.citizen.co.za/rosebank-killarney-gazette/359120/the-need-for-food-is-still-real/
