We were particularly interested in using narrative methods to explore the significance of food innovators’ values, beliefs, motivations and emotional connections that might underpin the approach to their work in food systems and their engagement with broader issues relating to food such as ecology, community, social justice and well-being. We used a novel combination of methods to help us uncover resilience capacities and identify on-the-ground exam- ples of what these capacities look like in the specific context of individual food innovators pursuing transformation in the Western Cape, South Africa.