Bubblegum Club

Tag: Parusha Naidoo

  • The affordability of plant-based diets – We speak to three veggie lovers on the topic

    In 2015 two studies were published in the Science and Anthropocene Review that came to the conclusion that human beings are “eating away at our own life support systems” at a pace not perceived in the previous 10,000 years. This startling phenomenon came about through humanoids acts of degradation of land and freshwater systems resulting in the secretion of greenhouse gases as well as the release of vast amounts of agricultural chemicals into the environment. An article in The Guardian states that our current economic system is pushing us towards an unsustainable future (Milman 2015). With our natural resources at an all-time low and the rapid decay of our planet, many people are consciously making an effort towards a greener lifestyle by opting for plant-based diets. It has been contested that vegetarianism and veganism is not only a healthier diet to follow but also much friendlier to the environment than opting to consume animal products. The big question, however, is how affordable and sustainable it is to live organic and be dedicated to this form of food activism. To get some answers I spoke to three femmes who prescribe to a plant-based diet, young artist Anne-Marie Kalumbu, creative Anny Botha and food activist and vegan chef Parusha Naidoo.

    In my interview with Anne-Marie, she expresses that her decision to become a vegetarian was motivated by moral inclinations as well as her desire to live consciously of her environment and her role in it. “I thought I wouldn’t eat my cat so why do I feel ok eating a cow. It’s insane how detrimental the meat industry is to our planet.”

    In her art practice vegetarianism does not come in to play in a straightforward manner. She does, however, enjoy taking pictures of nature and her choice to become vegetarian was motivated by a moral inclination to reduce the amount of man-made damage the planet endures by not contributing to the cycle. Anne-Marie feels that maintaining a plant-based diet has made her feel healthier and be more self-aware of her eating habits, expressing that there are no cons to the lifestyle she leads.

    Anny is a young dynamic creative working as a hair colourist at Cellardoor Hair and a freelance make up artist and stylist. In my interview with her, she tells me that she has been following a vegetarian diet for about three years. She explains that her choice to follow this lifestyle was prompted by her vegan boyfriend at the time that often cooked her meals. “I eventually just went full on vegetarian after a few months.” Anny expresses that since she has stopped eating meat she feels more energetic.

    When asked about the cons of this lifestyle Anny tells me that eating out can be a challenge. She continues to say that over the last two years there are more veggie options and restaurants but that initially, it was very difficult to find a decent meal out. In Anny’s opinion, it is healthier to follow a plant-based diet if your plant of choice is not a deep-fried potato.

    Both Anny and Anne-Marie advocate a vegetarian lifestyle and Anne-Marie quotes the following words of ASAP Rocky to explain her sentiments “you gotta do research on the way they treat like f**king chickens man”. Anny explains her food activism by saying; “I grew up with lots of farm animals around me so eating them has always been an issue for me. Personally, I would rather be friends with a piggy than eating it. Aside from that, we could literally feed hundreds of thousands of hungry children with the grains we feed livestock. Once the demand for meat drops people can focus their energy on using our resources to do a bit more good than harm.” Anny tries to live as green as she possibly can by avoiding brands that test on animals.

    Many a meat eater may ask where vegetarians get their protein from and both Anne-Marie and Anny express that their protein intake is streamlined by eating beans, chickpeas, lentils, nuts, seeds, grains, quinoa and bean butters.

    When I came to my most pressing question as to the costs of maintaining this lifestyle Anne-Marie tells me that this lifestyle can be rather costly. She continues to say that prices are higher if you choose to go the organic produce route. Anny tells me that when vegetables are bought from markets and your eggs are sourced directly from a farm, being a vegetarian can be a cost-effective lifestyle. Anny estimates her monthly expenditure on groceries for herself and her housemate as R1 800 a month excluding eating out and buying a litre of milk once a week. Both Anne-Marie and Anny are in agreement that this lifestyle can be sustainable.

    Curious about the answers that Anne-Marie and Anny have given as to the health benefits of a plant-based diet I did some of my own research. In a video lecture by Dr. Michael Greger M.D FACLM (Plant-based Diets for improved Mood & Productivity 2015) he states that in 2014 a study was published in The Systematic Review of Met Analysis of Dietary patterns & Depression that came to the conclusion that a healthy diet pattern is associated with reduced chances of depression. The video further states that eating a plant-based diet increases your antioxidant status and might help alleviate depression. Plant-based diets also improve digestion, increase energy levels and results in better sleeping patterns Greger states. The final conclusions of the video are that a vegan diet improves a person’s productivity, quality of life and is low in cost.

    Perhaps a plant-based diet can be sustainable and cost-effective. Looking more into the topic I received an Internet introduction to foraging teacher Roushanna Gray who has been referred to as a wild food innovator. Teaching seasonal workshops to children and adults about foraging she takes her inspiration from local edible indigenous plants. In her kitchen, she experiments with the diversity and stimulating flavours of indigenous fauna, fynbos as well as the culinary offerings that inter-tidal rock pools along the coastline hold. In Roushanna’s classes, she teaches adults the act of sustainable foraging which, if taken on, as a lifestyle may be a very cost-effective way to maintain a plant-based diet. This, of course, will only work if you live in an area where you are able to forage. Johannesburg? No, I don’t think it would work.

    I spoke to Parusha who has elevated the vegan lifestyle to a form of intersectional consciousness to get some more concrete answers. Parusha has become well known for her vegan cooking classes and pop-up events in Johannesburg. In an interview Parusha had with our editor Christa Dee a number of months ago she explains that she started thinking about how eating meat has never been a conscious decision for her. In the interview, she states, “As creative people, I think we don’t question the norms of our societies enough and interrogate why we are doing things. I decided that I needed to look at everything in my life and consciously choose what I’m doing. After some research into it, it made sense to me to try it out veganism for the planet, the animals, and the earth.”

    I asked Parusha whether plant-based diets are healthier than eating animal products to which she responded that that is not necessarily the case. She continues to say that it is dependant on whether a balanced plant-based diet is followed. A balanced plant-based diet consists of a variety of whole grains, vegetables, fruits and legumes Parusha tells me. “In general there are no hormones or antibiotics in plant-based foods. And all animal products contain cholesterol, which is responsible for heart disease. Cheese, milk, yoghurt, eggs and all meat contains hormones and antibiotics, and fish contains mercury.”

    Parusha’s answer in regards to the cons of a plant-based lifestyle corresponds with that of Anny’s. She expresses that eating out in South Africa can be rather inconvenient as not all chefs are creative when cooking vegan or vegetarian meals.

    Providing me with something to think about Parusha states that a vegan diet is not necessarily a plant-based diet and expresses that “You can eat a lot of peanut butter on white bread, and chips with tomato sauce or vegan ice cream, cakes, biscuits, fried samoosas, etc.”. Thus meaning that veganism cannot inescapably be classified as a plant-based lifestyle.

    According to Parusha the pros of this lifestyle is that she feels and looks younger. “With the meat-free lifestyle, you definitely have less chance of getting diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. That’s scientifically proven.” Parusha feels that as creative individuals, we should be creative about our decisions.

    “Be curious about alternatives to the mainstream. Question what you are actually doing. We live in a world that encourages independent thinking but not when it comes to food. If we all lived on whole grains, fruit, vegetables and legumes it would not make anyone any money – the meat and dairy industries would collapse and so would the pharmaceutical industry, and most medical professionals would be out of jobs. Veganism is not expensive. You don’t need super foods. Beans and rice are really cheap. Spinach is cheap too. Apples and oranges are cheap.” A previous comment by Anny corresponds with this statement by Parusha indicating that if all people followed plant based diets the meat and dairy industries would fold.

    Parusha’s advice for persons who are interested in following this lifestyle is the following, “Don’t just live on boiled vegetables! Be curious. Be creative. Eat delicious food! If you have any questions, Google is your friend. Try going meat-free for a day or a week, or a month. Whatever you do just TRY!”

    Parusha has combined art with her vegan cooking classes and explains that this decision was prompted by her work as a graphic designer in advertising before she became a vegan chef. “I am combining my love of food with art. I like that everyone can have a conversation about food.”

    Continuing the thread on sustainability and affordability Parusha tells me about black veganism. This diet is about more than a diet and can be seen as a framework for analysing various oppressions. It is an intersectional veganism and can include whole grains such as brown rice, vegetables like spinach and carrots, legumes such as lentils and beans as well as fruits. Black veganism is about creating more hearty, simple dishes rather than superfood salads. She states that this lifestyle can be very sustainable, as you don’t require a lot of super foods, seeds, nuts or upmarket oils. Eating Dhal and rice as her staple, Parusha expresses that this diet can be very affordable.

    When prompted to estimate the cost of living as a vegetarian or vegan Parusha states that it is dependent on where food is purchased. Stating that it could cost R100 a week or it could cost over R1000 a week. This variation in cost will be subject to whether you choose to prepare meals at home as well as where you decide to purchase your groceries. Eating out and purchasing from Woolworths is a lot more costly than home-cooked meals and purchasing from markets, independent shops, and street vendors.

    After my own research and interviews with Anne-Marie, Anny and Parusha I am of the opinion that a plant-based diet can be better for your health when a balanced diet is followed that doesn’t just consist of carbs, sugars and Fry’s Foods. Furthermore, the cost of living as a vegetarian or vegan will be determined by an individual’s choice of either cooking at home or getting take out. It is also dependent on where you decide to buy from markets, vendors and small independent shops or from chains such as Woolworths or Pick n Pay.

     

  • Why Bubblegum Club is Not Just…Well, Bubblegum

    Bubblegum Club released their first cover story on the 26th of January 2016, and since then, have continued to announce new covers every two weeks. Their goal, at the end of January 2017, is to look back at twelve months of images and narratives, contextualise their position as a platform that offers an alternative aesthetic and commercial space. In looking back with an analytical and critical eye, they hope to identify and re-focus their goals, as well as correct their direction when necessary. Recognising who they are, what they do best, and what’s important to them as they reach into the future, Bubblegum Club will better able to better strategise for successful ventures in the coming years.

    Bubblegum Club as cultural artefact and platform of living practice

    Bubblegum Club is a platform for culture, fashion, music, and art in South Africa offers an alternative to that tired, old visual song. Its images and narratives balance on the nexus between fine art, photography, performance and urban consumer fetishes – everything from global brands like Adidas to niche clothing products– to offer better advertising and marketing possibilities for large corporations and young entrepreneurs alike. Bubblegum Club forms a bridge between “scenes” created between formal, institutional spaces who guard access and privilege, and innovative, interdisciplinary artists and cultural producers – those who cannot, and do not wish to frame their cultural production in accepted ways — who have less access to such formal space.

    That refreshing attitude – giving shout-outs to both “high” and “low” culture, art and commerce is apparent in the interviews featuring art-entrepreneurs like Russell Abrahams, founder and Creative Director of the illustration studio Yay Abe (Yay Abe – new vision for illustrative work and edgy performance artists like Dineo Seshee Bopape (Artist Dineo Seshee Bopape on Soil, Self and Sovereignty. The platform capitalises on the use of the body as design, and “design for the body” through recognising the ways in which urban youth fashion their physical bodies and clothing into “high” art. Here, the body replaces the white cube gallery and the history museum; material objects that are part of self-fashioning – including clothing, shoes, and jewellery, music, movement, choreography and styling – become part of what goes on the dynamic walls of skin and psyche.

    In effect, Bubblegum Club is a cultural intelligence agency – it is a cultural artefact of its own, and a platform for a living practice. It avoids clichés – the fluff and easily digestible consumer culture – celebrated without critique and self-awareness. Their focus is quality and innovative design over throwaway materials. It helps young creative (designers, musicians, artists, choreographers, stylists, thinkers) infiltrate formidable formal structures. In the absence of open avenues, they aim to create their own continent – a space to create, be, grow, share. It is a space in which cultural production is highlighted, but also critiqued – a place in which we can be insightful, and not be force-fed a trend that will leave us empty and regretful about our consumption after an hour.

    Challenging perceptions that limit self-making

    On this platform or stage, Bubblegum Club provides “actors” (or cultural producers) and audiences with the tools and avenues to explore in that journey; they offer innovative possibilities for changing and challenging social perceptions that limit our conceptions of self. They can also engage with local history and get a political education, whilst being entertained by dope visuals and easy-to-read articles and interviews. During the past twelve months, their cover pages on the “Features” section have been visually striking, provocative, and innovative. “Features” foregrounds urbanity and highlights the myriad avenues available to cosmopolitan youth through provocative self-fashioning. We see this in fashion articles like the feature covering the aesthetic of I.AM.ISIGO, a clothing design company that based between Nigeria, Ghana and France (I.AM.ISIGO – Transcontinental Thread). I.AM.ISIGO offers possibilities beyond the limited options of mega brands from the US that whitewash personal style; it also offer us the possibility of dreaming of the larger possibilities offered by other African design centres like Ghana.

    On the other end of the spectrum, we also get to question conventions. Lady Like – The fabrication of femininity, brings “attention to the various ways femininity is assigned particular attributes through the use of fabric, stitching, styling, photography and painting”; rather than offering us models in lacy underwear, we get to interrogate the ways in which we accept the constraints placed on women. In their interview with iconic artist Mary Sibande, we get to “blow up” the constraints that have been placed on the “black imagination” – and free ourselves, like her iconic sculpture of a domestic worker, Sophie, through daily acts of rebellion and dreaming.

    Context: problematic perceptions visual imaginary on Africa

    “Africa” remains a monolithic space of violence and poverty uncomplicated by global politics and military action because the images and narratives chosen by powerful news agencies and newspapers continue to speak to foundational myths that Europe (and white ex-colonists and plantation owners in America) manufactured about Africa. Even now, in the second decade of the twenty-first century, images of Africa in news, fashion, popular narratives – especially those produced for consumption in the geopolitical West – continue a conversation with centuries-old work that constructed the African as somehow less human, less civilised, and (somewhat sexily) savage. Myths about “Africa” remain so powerful that contemporary visitors, fashion shoots and news journalists alike attempt to recreate the fantasy – ignoring, often, the complexity of modern realities – in order to reference those influential narratives that still have a claim to “truth” in our collective imaginary. Audiences and photographers themselves are often unaware of how these images and advertisements continue a troubling colonial legacy.

    The frequent-culprit list: everything from European destination wedding photography, aid workers’ and travel writers’ blogs, and even fine art photography from Africa by African-born artists. Often, their “Africa” shoot is accompanied by images of animals, vast vistas, and “colourful natives” – manufactured the foundational mythologies about African landscapes and African people that remain with us in the twenty-first century. One only needs to Google the words “Africa” and “fashion” to get an idea of what’s out there:

    Even though many of these striking photographs were taken in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the persona of the African is “stilled” – immobilised in time as something primordial, fashioned as something belonging to the past. They are still wearing clichéd “tribal garb”, practicing customs that are sometimes constructed as quaint, and at others, as harmful to women and children. On a fundamental level, they are present in the photographs to highlight the powerful personas of the white, superior European subjects – who have the luxury and ability to self-fashion themselves in modernity.

    Offering an alternative visual narrative

    Despite that overwhelming body of problematic images, hope is not lost. The technologies of photography are also a useful tool that helps us change and challenge tired, old views. We can train ourselves to identify the ways photography often repeats and reinforces colonial views of Africa and Africans. From there, we can consciously create an alternative image repertoire for this, and subsequent generations. Bubblegum Club gets that the present generation reads the world almost exclusively through images. In this age where images play a significant role in how we read the world, photographs that accompany branding narratives have even more influence. But we often read only as uncritical consumers; we read without critiquing the images, or the personal (and national) history that we bring into our reading of images. We rarely think about how our image “bank accounts”, and our processes are influenced by history and culture – history that aided violent, imperial ventures that depended on portraying “Africa” and “African” as somehow less than, Other, savage.

    That process of educating its public to be critical, analytical readers is an essential part of Bubblegum Club’s fabric. Branding and selling, together with playful re-educating and conscientising is the most significant aspect of the project, evident in Features such as Everything you need to know about Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival 2016, Eating as activism: Parusha Naidoo’s intersectional approach to our plates; Dillion S. Phiri – Social sculptor shaping African youth.

    That awareness means that within Bubblegum Club’s pages, there are often ironic winks at anthropology (that overarchingly influential field that helped constrain “African-ness” and “blackness” in particular within strict borders that aided colonial conquest and racialisation), sexual politics, “traditional” tropes of femininity and masculinity.  Instead, we are offered dynamic possibility, and subtly made aware of the influence of archival footage on the present. Their Features focus on identity formation with an acute awareness of the impact of history on the present, for clothing that plays with the multiplicity that is South Africa’s “heritage”, music that harkens back and looks forward, for collaborations that do not – above all, trap one within short-sighted borders of nation, race, gender, sexuality, and other markers of lazy identity politics.

    Their “interventions” are evident in features like Tackling the Tracksuit: Youth95’s New Capsule Collection; Multiplicity on the Dancefloor: nightclubs for the non-binary; Durban’s viral dance videos highlight the prescience of social media and the mobile phone in youth culture.

    Bubblegum Club’s strength is in that they operate in the in-between place of fine art and marketing, positioning themselves as provocateurs and providers of critical educations and our desire to fashion ourselves – to assemble and re-assemble our personas in order to signal desirability and power, to position ourselves as central within the flows of global modernity, and to affect and impact those flows, rather than simply react to what’s popular in America or Europe – using material and symbolic objects that speak to our own psychological needs.

    M. Neelika Jayawardane is Associate Professor of English at the State University of New York-Oswego, and an Honorary Research Associate at the Centre for Indian Studies in Africa (CISA), University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa). She was a senior editor and contributor to the online magazine, Africa is a Country, from 2010-2106. Her writing is featured in Transitions, Contemporary &,Al Jazeera English, Art South Africa, Contemporary Practices: Visual Art from the Middle East, and Research in African Literatures. She writes about and collaborates with visual artists.

     

     

     

  • Eating as activism: Parusha Naidoo’s intersectional approach to our plates

    “Eat less meat. Eat more plants. Try new things. Be adventurous. Be curious. And learn to cook if you can’t.”

    These are the words plant-based chef and designer Parusha Naidoo left me with after our interview about her vegan cooking classes and pop up events. Johannesburg-based Parusha has taken the vegan diet and lifestyle and elevated it to an intersectional consciousness that filters into how to think about food consumption.

    Her cooking and vegan journey began in the ten years that she spent away from South Africa in London and Berlin. Missing home, she started to cook meals that reminded her of the comforts of home. Like many of us, Parusha grew up eating meat. In 2013 she started to think about how eating meat was not a conscious decision for her. “As creative people I think we don’t question the norms of our societies enough and interrogate why we are doing things. I decided that I needed to look at everything in my life and consciously choose what I’m doing,” Parusha explained, “And after some research into it, it made sense to me to try it out veganism for the planet, the animals and the earth.”.

    parusha_food_01

    She describes her approach to veganism as intersectional. This is informed by her philosophy that everything in life is connected. For her this goes beyond simply removing the suffering of animals from our plates. The exploitation of people and the damage to the environment caused by the meat and dairy industries need to be taken into account as well. Included in her intersectional approach to veganism is a broadened definition of intersectional feminism. Here Parusha includes the afflictions we place on the bodies of females of other species. “Speciesism makes no sense… All inequality makes no sense,” Parusha emphasized, “[We can] begin with eating as activism and continue that desire to do no harm with your other choices.”.

    Parusha is encouraging people to reevaluate their relationships with food by becoming conscious of the type of food that we buy and what this food does to our bodies. “I want people to be empowered to nourish themselves and learn that making delicious food is easy. I don’t want people to think of vegan food as whack or not tasty,” Parusha explained. She does this through her cooking classes and pop up events. She has also managed to blend her passion for food with art by including art making in some of her classes. In July she will be taking part in the Berlin Food Art Week by creating an artwork that comments on the dumping of American chicken in South Africa. Her plan for 2017 is to create artwork that promotes critical thinking about food consumption and promote plant-based living.

    make food and art

    Parusha will be hosting a Vegan Basics Cooking Class this month at Conscious 108 and will be doing other classes there throughout the year. She will also be helping them with recipe development and hopes to do that for other restaurants with the vision of improving vegan menu options.

    For other events and developments check out her website or check out her Facebook page