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Monday 09:00 - 17:00 Tuesday 09:00 - 17:00 Wednesday 09:00 - 17:00 Thursday 09:00 - 17:00 Friday 09:00 - 16:00

Food Evolution Research Laboratory

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Food Evolution Research Laboratory

FERL focuses on food and nutrition research to enhance sustainable lifestyles of communities.

10/10/2025

🌟 A meaningful engagement with the Tiger Brands Foundation at the NSNP Nutrition Coordinators' Workshop 2025 — “A New Dawn, A New Day, Nourishing the Future Together: Doing it Right, Building it Bright.”
FERL/STH students proudly participated as part of the organizing team, contributing to a space filled with learning, inspiration, and collaboration. 💡
The discussions highlighted how Nutrition Coordinators shape learners’ nutrition, well-being, and future contributions to their communities.
Together, we’re reminded that sustainable impact begins with working hand in hand. 💪🌍

09/10/2025

It’s National Nutrition Week! (9–15 October 2025) 🗓️
This year’s theme, “Food for Health, Health for All,” reminds us that good nutrition is key to a healthy, thriving nation. 🌱. Together, let’s promote nutritious, affordable, and sustainable diets that support the wellbeing of every individual and community. 🌾💚

24/09/2025

🌟🥁 Heritage really is our superpower. Every language we speak, every dish we share, every tradition we hold onto adds its own spark to our rainbow nation. 🌈🍲✨ Today’s about more than just celebrating the past, it’s about carrying those stories into the future, together. 💃🏽🇿🇦🕺🏾 Here’s to the heartbeat of South Africa: strong, diverse, and beautifully connected. ❤️

15/09/2025

Meet FERL Lab Member: Tholakele Radebe 🌟

📚 Position: Master’s Student & Research Assistant at FERL

🔬 Research Focus: Tholakele’s research explores the nutrition transition in Soweto households, examining how the shift from indigenous diets to western processed foods impacts health, culture, food environments, and socio-economic well-being.

💡 Why This Research Matters:

📈 Rising Health Concerns: Obesity, diabetes, and heart disease are increasing, making this work crucial for public health.
🏘️ Community Impact: Her findings highlight the need for community awareness and education around healthier food choices.
🏛️ Policy & Access: By addressing affordability and accessibility, her research informs government interventions and public health programmes that can make indigenous, nutritious foods more available.

🌍 Aligning with Global Goals:

✔ SDG 2: Zero Hunger – Promoting access to healthier, affordable foods

✔ SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being – Reducing diet-related diseases

✔ SDG 4: Quality Education – Supporting nutrition education and awareness

✔ SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production – Encouraging sustainable diets and food systems

Tholakele’s work is paving the way for healthier communities and sustainable food futures. 💚

09/09/2025

✨ FERL x Innovation & AI ✨
FERL/STH proudly showcased “Using Virtual Reality for Kitchen Waste Management Training” at UJ’s innovation platform. 🌍💡 Led by Dr Hema Kesa and team, this project shows how tech can drive sustainability in food systems.
👏 Thank you to Devishree Dunna for representing FERL with excellence!

03/09/2025

The FERL team at the 2nd International Conference – From Recovery to Resilience in Tourism: Sustainable Pathways for Transforming Tourism 🌍✨

Dr. Hema Kesa, Dr. Eridiong Onyenweaku, Tholakele Radebe, and Devishree Dunna represented FERL, presenting insights on how sustainability can drive meaningful transformation in the tourism and hospitality sector, fostering resilience, empowering communities, and safeguarding our planet for the future. 🌱

29/08/2025

FERL/STH post graduate students proudly shone at the Research on FIRE Conference in Mannheim, Germany 🇩🇪.

Representing UJ on a global stage:

✨ Tressilia Mumba shared her research in person on “Using mobile applications as training and assessment tools for food waste management education in schools”.

✨ Tholakele Radebe presented virtually on “The impact of nutrition transition on consumer eating behavior in township households”.

A true celebration of student innovation, collaboration, and research for a more sustainable future! 🌍📚

28/08/2025

🔥✨ The grand finale of REIFs Work Stream 2 ended on a truly unforgettable note! In partnership with SA Chefs, the chefs brought indigenous ready-to-eat foods head-to-head with Western ingredients, sparking bold flavours, creative twists, and conversations that matter. From the aroma in the kitchen to the passion on the plates, this last cookoff reminded us why our local ingredients are more than food, they’re a story of resilience, culture, and possibility. 🌿🍲

25/08/2025

🌿 Women’s Month Spotlight: Mokgadi Itsweng 🌿

Meet Mokgadi Itsweng, a plant-based chef, food systems advocate, and cookbook author who believes food can heal both body and spirit.

Her journey started in a tough season of life when she developed severe food allergies while working as a food editor. What could have broken her instead opened a new path: learning to use food as medicine. Through that healing, Mokgadi found self-love and began sharing that love with her community through plant-based and indigenous foods. 💚

Her favourite ingredient? Ditloo (Bambara nuts) not just for their rich nutrition, but for the memories they hold. Harvesting Ditloo with her grandmother, listening to stories of Makoma Modjadji, the Rain Queen, became moments of connection, love, and heritage. Today, every pot of Ditloo she cooks carries those memories forward. ✨

💬 Mokgadi’s message for Women’s Month:
“You are enough, even when your world falls apart. Invest in yourself and make space for what you love. Make joy and self-love a priority.”

Here’s to Mokgadi, showing us that healing can begin at the table, and that food is love in its most nourishing form. 🌱

22/08/2025

✨ Women’s Month Spotlight: Arabella Parkinson✨

Say hello to Arabella Parkinson, a chef, food systems advocate, and the creative force behind Eat to Thrive, a gastronomy studio where joy and sustainability meet on every plate.

For Arabella, cooking isn’t just about flavour, it’s about building a culture of care. Whether she’s designing climate-smart menus for the tourism sector or creating intimate private chef experiences, she brings people closer to food that’s good for them and the planet. 🌍💛

What keeps her inspired is the changing role of chefs. She believes every action in the kitchen from what we source to how we tell food stories, can spark change across the food system.

Her ingredient of choice? Millet, a humble, drought-resistant grain that’s as versatile as it is nourishing. From salads to stews, cookies to breakfasts, it’s proof that the future of food can be sustainable, affordable, and delicious. 🌾

💬 Arabella’s message for Women’s Month:

Taking inspiration from her idol Asma Khan, Arabella reminds us: “As we rise, we must lift others with us.” She believes women’s leadership, joy, and collaboration are reshaping the culinary world and she’s proud to be part of that change.

Here’s to Arabella, leading with care, joy, and the courage to transform food systems one meal at a time. 🌱✨

20/08/2025

🌸 Women’s Month Spotlight 🌸

Meet Lerato Sitole, co-director at Bertha Spaces NPC, where she helps lead an activist retreat focused on food and spatial justice. ✊🏾🌱

For Lerato, this work is about more than food, it’s about memory, justice, and dignity. She draws inspiration from working alongside like-minded food and climate justice activists, while constantly reminding communities of the wisdom held in our indigenous practices.

Her favourite ingredients? Sorghum, beans, wheat, fresh fruits and vegetables. To her, bringing these foods back onto our plates is not just about nutrition, it’s about reclaiming heritage, fighting hunger, and restoring balance. Every bite is both nourishment and resistance. 🍲✨

💬 Lerato’s message for Women’s Month:

“My journey has been about clean and traditional food, seasonal food that brings the correct nutrition needs, especially for people of colour. As chefs, we are dedicated to advocating for land and food justice, and to telling the stories of our ancestors who grew and nurtured crops that must never be forgotten.

Here’s to Lerato, carrying ancestral wisdom forward, and reminding us that food justice is inseparable from love, heritage, and healing. 🌍💛

15/08/2025

✨ Women’s Month Spotlight on women influencing sustainability in our food system✨

Meet Pinky Maruping, a chef whose work goes far beyond the kitchen. She’s a visionary in culinary sustainability, leading conversations around how we grow, source, and share food in ways that honor both people and the planet.

As Sustainability Committee Chair with the Chef Manifesto, Pinky brings together chefs from around the world to weave ancestral wisdom into modern cooking. For her, food is not just about feeding, it’s about healing, heritage, and hope.

Her heart ingredient? Sorghum, a humble, powerful grain that carries the stories of generations and proves that the future of food can start with what’s already ours.

💬 Pinky’s message for Women’s Month:
“We are the ancestors of tomorrow, let our choices be bold, our stories be true, and our leadership be rooted in care. To every woman rising: your voice matters, your heritage is powerful, wear your crown with pride and your impact is limitless.”

Here’s to women like Pinky, planting seeds of change with every story, every dish, and every act of leadership. 🌱👑

Address

Bunting Road Campus, University Of Johannesburg, Auckland Park
Sandton
2092

Opening Hours

Monday	09:00 - 17:00
Tuesday	09:00 - 17:00
Wednesday	09:00 - 17:00
Thursday	09:00 - 17:00
Friday	09:00 - 16:00

Telephone

+27115591050

Website

http://www.ferl.co.za/

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