How Africa’s “Poor Man’s Foods” Became Europe’s Expensive Superfoods | LNN
“For years, Africa’s traditional foods were dismissed as poor man’s food. They were shamed, sidelined, and replaced in the story of what “modern” eating should look like.
Yet today, those very same foods are celebrated in Europe and sold at a premium as superfoods.
This shift is not just about diet trends, it exposes a deeper story of how colonial systems devalued what was ours, only for it to be rebranded and sold back as luxury.
The foods that once defined survival for millions of Africans are now packaged as health miracles for Western markets.
So the question is,why were Africa’s foods stripped of value at home, only to be exalted abroad?
And what does this say about power, profit, and the urgent need for food sovereignty across the continent?”
“For years, Africa’s traditional foods were dismissed as poor man’s food. They were shamed, sidelined, and replaced in the story of what “modern” eating should look like.
Yet today, those very same foods are celebrated in Europe and sold at a premium as superfoods.
This shift is not just about diet trends, it exposes a deeper story of how colonial systems devalued what was ours, only for it to be rebranded and sold back as luxury.
The foods that once defined survival for millions of Africans are now packaged as health miracles for Western markets.
So the question is,why were Africa’s foods stripped of value at home, only to be exalted abroad?
And what does this say about power, profit, and the urgent need for food sovereignty across the continent?”
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