Cooking with purpose, passion, conservation

Chef Simon Lehutso is using his love of nature and food to nourish and educate youths at a wilderness school in Limpopo, where he grew up

- Lesego Chepape

At just 27, chef Simon Lehutso is stirring up more than flavours in the kitchen, he's igniting a movement where food meets sustainability and culinary passion becomes a tool for environmental education.

Born and brought up in Marulaneng Bakenberg Village, just outside Mokopane near Vaalwater, Simon's journey from rural Limpopo to becoming a permanent chef at the Lapalala Wilderness School was one of vision, resilience and deep connection to both nature and community.

But his path to becoming a chef wasn't typical — it began in the wilderness, not in a kitchen.

Lehutso's first encounter with Lapalala Wilderness School came when he was just 12 years old, during a school excursion.

Nestled in the Waterberg biosphere, Lapalala is an environmental school dedicated to teaching children and youths the value of biodiversity, sustainability and conservation. For Lehutso, the visit was life-changing.

"I remember it so clearly," he says. "It was my first time in such a quiet, untouched place.

"We saw animals roaming freely; animals I had only ever seen on TV. I felt a connection, not just to nature, but to something bigger."

That visit planted the seeds of purpose. But the moment that sparked his culinary journey was less expected. At Lapalala, Lehutso experienced his first proper dining setting and it intrigued him.

"I asked myself, how do they prepare food for so many people? How does a kitchen like this even work?"

That curiosity led him to learn more, eventually realising that food could be more than sustenance, it could be storytelling, tradition, education and environmental action.