For some families, dinner is pap and spinach. For another, chicken and bread must stretch across a household of 12. At a Free State school, a plate of samp, beans and vegetables may be a child’s main meal of the day.

As part of our Hungry for Change series, Health-e News community journalists asked people to show us what is actually on their plates.

Registered dietitian and public health nutritionist Helen Donkin from the Association for Dietetics in South Africa (ADSA) analysed seven of the meals, using portion sizes estimated from photographs and nutritional information from the South African Food Data System (SAFOODS).

When pap has to stretch between three children and their mother

Zinzi*, a 32-year-old single mother of three in Lenasia South, sells chicken feet on the street to feed her children. When that income is not enough, she says she sells sex for cash or food.

The family usually eats twice a day. Pap is their staple and on difficult days it may be all they have. When food runs short, Zinzi* shares a plate with her toddler while her two sons share another.

In March, Zinzi’s* daughter spent a week at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital. Zinzi* says doctors told her the child was malnourished.

Read Zinzi’s* full story: On The Brink Of Hunger: ‘I Sell Sex And Chicken Feet To Feed My Children’

*Not her real name

Donkin says the photographed meal of pap and spinach provides much-needed energy, but is low in several important nutrients.

“Inexpensive food is not a problem per se, but often these foods tend to be lower dietary quality, or mostly contributes one macronutrient, like only carbohydrates or fats.”

This is particularly important for young children. Donkin says the period from conception to a child’s second birthday is a crucial window for nutrition.

“Poor nutrition in this crucial window, the first 1000 days, which is from conception to a child’s second birthday, can have long lasting negative effects on growth and development.” 

R50 a day to feed six people

66-year-old Sekhwele Mnisi from Ga-Motodi village near Burgersfort in Limpopo, has about R1 500 a month to feed himself, three adult children and two young grandchildren. That works out to around R50 a day for six people.

The family has no running water or electricity. About R400 goes towards water each month and another R400 towards paraffin and candles. They also need firewood for cooking.

When food runs out, Mnisi tells his children to drink water and have faith.

Read Sekhwele Mnisi’s full story: When Hunger Hits, Limpopo Widower Tells Children To ‘Drink Water And Have Faith’

Donkin says the photographed meal of pap and bread is high in carbohydrates, but low in several important nutrients.

“Yes, a full tummy does not equal meeting all your daily nutrient needs. Often high carbohydrate, high fat meals are filling, but many of these foods are low in protein and micronutrients,” Donkin says.

According to Donkin this can contribute to the triple burden of malnutrition, where undernutrition, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and overweight or obesity can exist in the same family or community.

When older people go hungry so children can eat

68-year-old gogo, Toti, 68, shares her three-roomed home in Emaxelegwini informal settlement near Ngcobo in the Eastern Cape with five adult children and six grandchildren.

When there is not enough food, adults skip meals so younger children can eat. Toti, who has arthritis, says she tries to eat something before taking her medication.

“I have no choice but to make that daily sacrifice.”

Read Toti’s full story: When Food Runs Short, Gogo Toti Goes Hungry So Grandchildren Can Eat

Donkin says the photographed meal of chicken and bread provides energy, protein and some micronutrients, but has limited dietary diversity, with no vegetables, fruit, legumes or dairy.

“This meal could well satisfy one’s hunger for a while and meet energy, protein and some micronutrient needs.”

But the food has to stretch. Donkin’s analysis found that when the meal is shared, individual family members get too little energy, protein, fibre and micronutrients.

“This leaves any one of the family members with an inadequate intake of energy, protein, dietary fibre and micronutrients.” 

According to Donkin, food insecurity can also be particularly difficult for older people and those living with chronic conditions. 

“Inadequate nutrition over time can contribute to vitamin and mineral deficiencies and weakened immunity, while some medicines may cause side effects when taken without food.”

Recycling cans to put food on the table

31-year-old Nokulunga Nkabinde is unemployed and collects discarded aluminium cans in Embo, west of Durban, to help feed her household.

She lives with her two sons, aged seven and five, two adult siblings, her mother and grandmother. The household has a combined monthly income of about R6 000.

Nkabinde is one of several unemployed women in Embo who collect cans to help support their families.

Read Nkabinde’s full story: Hunger Is Driving KZN Women To Recycle For Food

According to Donkin, Nkabinde’s plate of rice, scrambled eggs and fried vegetables has more dietary variety than several of the other meals analysed. 

“It includes three vegetables and an animal source of protein, although there is no fruit, legumes or dairy,” says Donkin.

“Dietary diversity forms the basis of a diet that can support health, supports gut health by feeding beneficial microbiome in the gut and provides a variety of nutrients from a variety of sources.” 

“A diet with little variety can mean people do not get enough vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other nutrients needed to support health,” she says.

When saving through stokvels put more food on the table

Every month, members of the Reabetswe Food Stokvel in Tsetse Village outside Mahikeng pool their money to buy food in bulk.

For co-founder Mapiti Seleka, 41, the groceries help her family through December and into the first months of the new year. The photographed meal is a special festive-season meal, not what the family eats every day.

“Before the stokvel, December was just pap and hope.”

Read Seleka’s full story: How One Food Stokvel Helps 45 North West Families Fight Hunger

Donkin says the photographed meal has good dietary diversity, with fish, couscous and four vegetables.

“Every food group contributes a small amount of calcium, which combined means this is a moderate calcium meal, showing practically how dietary diversity contributes to getting in enough of all different nutrients,” Donkin says.

But Donkin cautions that more than half of the meal’s energy comes from fat. 

“This could increase the risk of non-communicable diseases if every meal follows the same pattern,” she says.

When a school meal may be the only meal of the day

For some children at S.A Mokhothu Primary School in Nyakallong, Free State, a school meal is their main meal of the day.

During the school holidays, the We Care Day Care Centre keeps its kitchen open during the first week of the break. It also provides meals to older learners from surrounding schools when there is enough food.

Caregiver Rebecca Ndaba says high unemployment means many families in Nyakallong struggle to provide even one meal a day. 

Read the full story: Childhood Hunger: When School Meals Stop, One Free State Community Steps In

According to Donkin, the samp and beans, pumpkin and tomato-and-onion relish is one of the most balanced of the seven meals shared during Health-e News’ Hungry For Change series. 

Donkin says it provides adequate protein for a young child, a good balance of energy from carbohydrates and fats, and is high in fibre.

“Overall this is a well-balanced meal providing dietary diversity and nutrients. If combined with a fruit on occasion, the vitamin C provision would increase significantly.”

But Donkin says for children, the nutritional importance of a meal cannot be separated from how regularly they are able to eat. She says poor nutrition during childhood can also affect cognitive development. 

“This makes regular access to nutritious food particularly important for children who may be relying on a school or community feeding programme for their main meal of the day.”

Growing food when families cannot afford to buy it

At the Thuthukani Centre in Lenasia South, unemployed residents grow vegetables they can take home to their families.

The garden produces spinach, tomatoes, onions, broccoli, bell peppers and cabbage. 

Volunteers can use their social grants to buy staples and other food, while produce from the garden adds fresh vegetables to their meals.

Read the full story: No Hunger Here: How a Lenasia Community Garden Helps Unemployed Families Put Food on the Table

Donkin says the photographed meal of pap, spinach, carrots and onions is high in fibre and provides substantial amounts of vitamin A, calcium and iron. But it contains no animal protein, legumes, dairy or fruit.

The meal analysed by Donkin consists of pap with fried spinach, carrots and onions. She says it has good dietary diversity from three different vegetables and is particularly high in fibre. 

“The vegetables also provide substantial amounts of vitamin A, calcium and iron.”

Donkin says growing vegetables can add nutrients to people’s diets, although it comes with costs of its own.

“If families have some water and land available that’s fenced off, a vegetable garden is a wonderful way to add nutrients to the diet,” Donkin says.

According to Donkin, responsibility for overcoming food insecurity cannot rest solely with families. Improving the nutritional value of a diet costs money, time or both.

“The solution is not simply to educate families about eating healthier while nutritious foods remain inaccessible to them with financial, social and economic constraints beyond their immediate control.”