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Students play leading role to ensure food security

17 June 2020 | Story Dr WP Wahl

The Division of Student Affairs (DSA) prioritises innovation to meet the challenges of food insecurity and malnutrition among students. To this end, several student volunteers and student governance structures are collaborating with the DSA on various initiatives.

During 2019, various conversations were held about the possibility of creating a health-promoting food environment at the UFS where students and staff are well informed and empowered to take appropriate action regarding their food and nutritional needs. These conversations resulted in an institutional strategy to address the food environment at the UFS. Student representatives serve on a technical committee that directs the implementation of this strategy. In this regard, several initiatives have already been launched.

Students from residences and other student communities have planted vegetable gardens on the Bloemfontein Campus with the assistance of KovsieACT and the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences. Students and staff are already harvesting and distributing vegetables to needy students every week. Measurements were put in place to continue this during the COVID-19 period. The following vegetables were planted: spinach, cabbage, beetroot, broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots.

Food parcels, donated by Tiger Brands and Gift of the Givers, are continuously handed out by DSA staff and student volunteers. In this regard, 540 food parcels have already been handed out on the Bloemfontein Campus during the COVID-19 period alone. During the same time, 117 students received food parcels on the Qwaqwa Campus. The innovation of this food parcel project rests on the fact that business, NPOs, UFS students, and DSA staff are collaborating to address food insecurity and malnutrition.

More collaborative initiatives will be implemented over the next 12 months. The DSA staff and students are already working with the Department of Dietetics and Consumer Sciences to create information packages about the preparation of low-budget nutritious meals.

News Archive

Staff attended Language Congress

2005-08-17

Ten staff members and students of the University of the Free State (UFS) recently attended the annual Language Congress of South Africa at the University of Pretoria (UP).

At the congress the prize for the best first paper delivered at a linguistics conference was awarded to Ms Susan Lombaard from the Unit for Language Facilitation and Empowerment (ULFE) at the UFS for her paper titled ”Translation from one medium to another: The translation of Biblical parts into South African Sign Language”.

This is the first time that a member of the UFS has been awarded this prize at a linguistics congress, and it is also the first time that the prize has been awarded for a paper dealing with Sign Language.

Some of the UFS staff members who attended the congress are standing from left Mr Philemon Akach, lecturer at the Department of Afro-asiatic Studies and Language Practice and Sign Language; Prof Theo du Plessis, Director: ULFE; Prof Jakkie Naudé, from the Department of Afro-asiatic Studies and Language Practice and Sign Language and Prof Alf Jenkinson, from the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, German and French.

In the front from left are Ms Stephanie Cawood, from the Department of Afro-asiatic Studies and Language Practice and Sign Language; Dr Angelique van Niekerk, from the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, German and French and Ms Susan Lombaard, from the ULFE.

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