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GROW your own vegetables

24 August 2022 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied

UFS vegetable garden — A variety of vegetables, including beans, spinach, onions, and carrots, are sheltered in 40 vegetable boxes in the two 300 m² tunnels opposite the Welwitschia Residence on the Bloemfontein Campus.

At the University of the Free State (UFS), research findings have indicated that 59% of students do not know where their next meal will come from. The recent COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the unemployment rate of 34,9%, adding to the likelihood of our students being affected even more by food insecurity.

One of the initiatives the university has created to address the issue, is a vegetable production and training programme. The purpose of the programme, which was established by the Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development, KovsieACT, and the Food Environment Office, is to teach students how to produce vegetables.

A variety of vegetables, including beans, spinach, onions, and carrots, are sheltered in 40 vegetable boxes in the two 300 m² tunnels opposite the Welwitschia Residence on the Bloemfontein Campus. Not only is this initiative providing students with fresh produce that supplements the food parcels they receive from the Food Environment Office through the No Student Hungry Project. It also provides them with the opportunity to get involved on a voluntary basis in the food production process, including the planting and harvesting of the vegetables.

Food production is an important skill in growing one’s own food. Moreover, it is also a valuable skill for students to transfer to their communities back home.

From mid-August through to the end of October is planting season for a number of vegetables. Starting spring on a high note, the Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development, KovsieACT, and the Food Environment Office invited food security activist, Thabo Olivier, to address the university community and provide some valuable guidelines to grow your own food in innovative ways.

Date: Thursday 1 September 2022

Time: 13:00

Venue: Thakaneng Bridge

Invest in your future and join the event, which will include hands-on harvesting from the vegetables gardens as well as a food demonstration.

More information: Teddy Sibiya on SibiyaLT@ufs.ac.za at KovsieAct.

News Archive

Our democracy is not in a good condition

2013-03-28

Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, Senior Research Professor on Trauma, Forgiveness and Reconciliation and Prof Andre Keet, Director of the Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice during the live broadcast of the NRF lecture.
Photo: Supplied
28 March 2013

“Our democracy is not in a good condition.”

Those were the words of Prof Andre Keet, Director of the Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice at the University of the Free State (UFS), on the eve of Human Rights Day on 21 March 2013.

Prof Keet participated in a lecture series of the National Research Foundation (NRF), the Science for Society series, which was broadcasted directly on SAfm from the UFS.

The topic for the lecture was racial reconciliation and social cohesion in the context of racial inequality.

“South Africa is the most unequal society in the world. According to the latest census results, there are still major inequalities in the distribution of wealth, with the average income of black South Africans one sixth that of white South Africans.”

Prof Keet said that reconciliation and social cohesion is not possible while major racial inequalities still exist.

He asked the question: “If reconciliation is merely linked to an apology and forgiveness, is it possible to reach reconciliation which can change social structures and practices?”

Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, Senior Research Professor on Trauma, Forgiveness and Reconciliation, also participated in the lecture.

Click on the link to listen to the full broadcast. http://iono.fm/go/safm

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