Brent Meersman is a journalist, writer, and a “compulsive traveler” as he describes himself, he is currently the co-editor for groundUp, a news publication known for covering stories that are in the interest of the public, he is also a published author of 11 books. Here we first look into his food feature article published in 2012 headlined “Confused but Content”, followed by “Bitten by the food bug” another food feature article published in 2013, and lastly the one published in 2015 headlined “Rethinking the National Arts Festival” focusing on the complexities of the festival that is held every year in the Eastern Cape at Makhanda and that of the town.
The “confused but content” article covers his Italian cuisine experiences in Italy while comparing them to those served in his home country, South Africa. It looks into the pricing of the cuisines and his expectations of the places along with the confusing variety of menus in different locations hence the article’s headline. The author has done a splendid job of trying to convince people for a tryout on these cuisines that are hard to read, let alone their correct pronunciation when you are not familiar with the Italian language, but the attention to detail with a detailed description has assisted with the confusion as that was the initial question on whether is the confusion worth the meals and experience?. The author has highlighted the resistance of European countries to conform to the “world standard” in terms of languages. At the same time, the feature does give off the up-close sophisticated Italian experience, so if Italy is one of your future travel destinations or you crave the satisfaction of its renowned dishes, this is a must-read, but do not have high hopes.
“Bitten by the food bug” is a series of recalls on his journey and experiences as a food review writer for Mail & Guardian that started in 2008 in Cape Town, to gain attraction on his niche because of the mysterious, yet not person he includes in his reviews. He also reveals his humor at the end. The article is extremely biased in terms of representation. He has, in multiple paragraphs discredited the nation’s heritage dishes, describing mapone worms at one point as “disgusting”. Not to invalidate or disagree with him on South Africa not having “anything that adds up to a national cuisine apart from burnt meat and stewing everything in a three-legged pot” but his wording seems to discredit the similar influence these dishes have on almost every culture in South Africa despite having different names to it which is one of the things that unites us. There is a strong sense of praise for the diversified cuisines brought by other foreign cultures. Nonetheless, the recollection of fine dining to cheap meal experiences has managed to show him as a “seasoned” food reviewer.
“Rethinking the National Arts Festival” article provided an in-depth perspective on his views about the problems such as the high unemployment rate, lack of skill and service delivery the town faces that have caused a shaky cohesion among residents, which according to him are of government’s responsibility, but the residents are persistent on them being fixed by the festival. The accuracy of his opinion on South Africans having the tendency to blame festivals on government failures is extremely questionable. His linking of statues and symbols is irrelevant as those are just daily reminders of the dark history that black people have endured at the hands of white people. The article has managed to provide a balanced criticism of the issues the town faces and has brought forward statistics and data to support the statements while highlighting the festival’s contribution to the economy and the opportunities NAF has provided as a form to combat these issues. The only element lacking that would have brought more color and evoked emotions to the article is the resident’s commentary. Overall, the article is fascinating to read because of the dynamics that it managed to tackle.
The pieces demonstrated the ability of Meersman to write about anything, but also write in a way that evokes questions and hooks a reader into feeding their curiosity. Because of that the pieces get an eight out of 10 rating and do recommend reading them for a read not only food lovers but to anyone who is fascinated by how others experience life on a daily basis.
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