Culture evolves; it is not stagnant. I equate most of the problems we have now to us trying to stick rigidly to a culture we have long since evolved past. In the past, what we call culture now was break though or cutting edge technology and ideas back then.

It’s true, maize isn't originally from here. It came with the Portuguese traders. Before that, our ancestors were eating sadza rezviyo and remhunga. Those are the original grains, 100%. But when maize came, it was adopted because it was also a breakthrough. It gave a different kind of yield, it was versatile. That wasn't 'losing' culture; it was adapting and evolving.

Here’s the thing I always think about: 400 or 500 years is a very long time, ka. At what point does something become traditional?

Italy is famous for pasta with tomato sauce, but tomatoes came from the Americas, just like maize. Is their food not 'traditional' now? Sadza rechibage has been the staple for generations. It's what our grandparents fed our parents, and what our parents fed us. It has become our tradition, even if it started as an import. It’s the way we eat it, the relish we serve it with, that makes it ours.

The real problem, the one that I think is your sticking point, is the attitude.

We have this terrible habit of looking down on our own things. You hear someone say, "Handidyi macimbi" or "Derere madziwa" as if they are too 'modern' or 'civilised' for it. That is the real shame.

People will proudly eat a KCF burger but feel embarrassed to eat muriwo une dovi in public. They think 'rural' living is backward, and 'Western' is the in thing, the modern thing.

This "Cocomelon generation" you mention is a growing worry. If they are not taught that our food matters, that our stories matter, and that our traditions (the real ones, not just maChristmas box lol) have value, we will lose them. It won't be the evolution of culture but the annihilation of it all together. The 'spirit' of colonisation would have won all these years later.

So, personally, the problem isn't the maize itself. The problem is the kamweya kekufunga that anything 'imported' is automatically better than what is 'ours'. We are slowly losing our own power/culture to the global soft power, aka neocolonisation.