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17 June 2020
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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.
Related article:
Vegetable tunnels established to continue the fight against food insecurity
University host annual conference of the Philosophical Society of Southern Africa
2014-01-15
The Department of Philosophy will be hosting the annual conference of the Philosophical Society of Southern Africa (PSSA) from 20 to 22 January 2014. Over 80 philosophers from Southern Africa and the rest of the world will be participating in the programme. The topics of the papers range from ethics and beliefs to epistemology, socio-political philosophy, natural philosophy, phenomenology, virtues, logic, etc. The conference programme and registration details can be found here:
http://conferences.ufs.ac.za/default.aspx?DCode=725 . Day visitors are welcome to attend the conference. Please contact Helen Cawood at
cawoodh@ufs.ac.za for further information.
Prof Rudi Visker from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, author of books on Levinas, Heidegger and Foucault, who will be speaking at the conference.