We just learnt what South Africans eat: 67% meat and starch – with only sporadic vegetables | News24 (2024)

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We just learnt what South Africans eat: 67% meat and starch – with only sporadic vegetables | News24? ›

The average South African plate is 67% meat and starch, new research says, and after you count the beans, fats, and diary, only 13% made up of vegetables. And those vegetables are mostly tomatoes and onions.

The introduction of domestic cattle and grain crops by Bantu speakers who arrived in the southern regions from north-east Africa since 200 AD and the spread of cattle keeping to Khoisan groups enabled products and the availability of fresh meat on demand.

The study found that the current plate composition consumed by many in South Africa does not align with the Eatwell plate composition – with the average South African adult's plate made up of twice the recommended amount of meat and almost three times less vegetables than recommended.

Maize. Maize, called corn in the United States, is a staple food throughout most of the world, including among these farmers in Venda, South Africa. Maize is eaten by itself, and used for products such as sweeteners, breads, and cornmeal. A food staple is a food that makes up the dominant part of a population's diet.

Results: Blacks had the highest annual total meat consumption (64.2 kg), followed by East Asians (53.6 kg), Whites (46.9 kg), and Hispanics (35.8 kg). Blacks ate significantly more chicken than the other ethnic groups (P < 0.001), and East Asians ate significantly more pork and processed meat (P < 0.001).

It's a tea-and-coffee culture, so breakfast is often a cup of something hot (with lots of sugar added) served alongside something bready. That can be a piece of toast with jam or cheese, a rusk (a thick and tooth-breakingly hard cookie), buttered bread, or even a hot dog bun.

For example, the Mediterranean diet has been named the “best diet overall” six years in a row. It's been found to reduce the risk of heart disease in women by 24% and relies on plant-based foods, beans, nuts, whole grains, seafood and lean poultry with a focus on unsaturated fat.

Lean and fresh protein like fish, eggs, skinless chicken, lean mince and ostrich meat instead of processed and fatty meats like polony, vienna's, salami, sausages and sandwich ham. Choose healthy fats found in canola, olive or sunflower oil, soft tub margarines, peanut butter, nuts and seeds, avocado and fish.

What fruits do South Africans eat? ›

Fruit: Apples, apricots, avocados, bananas, Cape gooseberries, cherries, coconuts, dates, grapefruit, guavas, lemons, limes, naartjies, nectarines, oranges, pawpaw or papaya, pears, pineapples, plums, strawberries, sweet melon, watermelon.

Yams are a staple throughout much of Africa, where they are used to make fufu. The tubers can be boiled, baked, fried, mashed, grated, and added to soups. The roots are edible and have a nice flavor when baked, and the leaves are often used as greens.

Indigenous vegetable crops that can be utilized for food preparation include those with tender leaves, stems, and stalks. These include root/tubers like amadumbe and leafy vegetables such as cleome, cowpea, amaranth, and blackjack.

South Africa has some of the most beautiful wine farms and you can buy wine at almost all the farms. For South Africans, beer and boerewors (farmers' sausage) go hand in hand, and it's not surprising that beer is considered to be South Africa's unofficial national drink, especially during the sporting season.

South Africa is a paradise for those looking to buy crafts.

It is also one of the best countries to buy jewellery, gold or diamonds since it has a large industry and in some locations such as Cape Town or Johannesburg, there are a large number of jewellers where you can buy the stones either rough or finished.

Some South Africans also refer to ketchup as “tomato sauce”.

On the African continent, meat consumption is highest in Gabon (59.2 kilograms per capita) and South Africa (60.0 kilograms per capita).

The biggest consumer of meat per capita in South America is Argentina, where people consume an average of 117 kg of meat per capita per year.

The US is the biggest consumer of beef in the world, but, according to new research, it's actually a small percentage of people who are doing most of the eating. A recent study shows that on any given day, just 12% of people in the US account for half of all beef consumed in the US.

And as average income levels in a country rose, so did the frequency with which both sexes chowed down on meat. That makes sense, Hopwood's team said, since meat is much more expensive to produce and buy compared to plant-based fare.