The future of food looks bright
A Joburg family is changing the way we think about restaurants, eating — and farming too
On the surface it’s all picture-perfect. We arrive on a late summer Sunday, the air still moist from the rain that fell the day before. Brightside, a farm on the outskirts of Joburg, seems like something out of a pastoral idyll. Owner Janet Diack welcomes us open-armed. Whippet-slim, bronzed and eyes bright with zeal, she says: "This is a dream come true." We start our visit as she leads us down winding garden paths, like a pied piper with good intentions. We meander past a wildly enthusiastic assortment of animals. Wiggle-bottomed piglets frolic in glorious mud along with chestnut-munching boars. There are several adolescent pigs dozing in the shade of a van; an ostrich follows us half-heartedly through the poultry yard, where chickens of all ages, ducks and turkeys are having the day off, dozing in the sun or taking a stroll. No enclosures in sight. But as Janet starts to chat on this picturesque amble, it immediately becomes clear that the family’s journey to where they are today...
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