Eat Out Magazine teaser 

Let’s talk about refrigerator real estate: what we put in there, what we take out and actually use, and what percentage of it subsequently gets squandered. I can relate to the regret of throwing out something I simply forgot to eat because it was lodged between the big bag of waterlogged salad leaves awaiting the same fate, and the bowl of leftover grains I cooked too much of the other day.

Buying too much food is a lifestyle issue that can easily be worked through. But this isn’t about the row of two-year-old condiments in your refrigerator door, or the forgotten chakalaka in the turmeric stained Tupperware. This is a more pertinent issue of the rampant food waste going on in our country, on our watch. Currently, South Africa is facing a crisis of paradoxical proportions: millions of people are starving while literal tonnes of perfectly good food go to waste every day. It’s a challenge that, despite growing awareness, continues to persist, often hidden behind the glossy, aspirational images of abundance depicted in supermarkets, fridges and food-delivery boxes.

The statistics are jarring: a CSIR study has reported that two-thirds of food harvested goes to waste in the supply chain before it even reaches consumers. In a country where food insecurity is a pressing issue, and where millions of South Africans are unable to access adequate nourishment, these numbers paint a stark picture of inequality.

To read the full story, grab your copy of the 2025 Eat Out Magazine – on shelf at your nearest Woolies or online for R130.