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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

UFS academic discusses Dutch, Afrikaans and African languages

2006-05-22

During the colloquium presented in Belgium by the Province Antwerp were from the left Prof Pol Cuvelier (University of Antwerp), Prof Theo du Plessis (Director: Unit for Language Management at the UFS), Mr Ludo Helsen (Permanent Deputy: Province of Antwerp) and Mr Jean-Pierre Rondas (Flemish radio journalist).

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UFS academic discusses Dutch, Afrikaans and African languages at international conference

Prof Theo du Plessis, Director of the Unit for Language Management at the University of the Free State (UFS), was the main speaker at a colloquium titled “Routes: Where to now? - Een traject van het Nederlands naar het Afrikaans en de Afrikatalen”, which was recently presented by the Province Antwerp in Belgium.

The aim of the colloquium was to discuss the future cooperation in the field of language between the Province Antwerp and South Africa.

The Province Antwerp is already involved with projects in South Africa. One of these projects is the Multilingual Information Development Programme (MIDP), a partnership project between the UFS and the Free State Province that is mainly funded by the Province Antwerp.

The project has been running since 1999 and was recently in the news with the presentation of a symposium on multilingualism and exclusion on the Main Campus of the UFS. It is hoped that the Routes colloquium will indicate new stages on which can be added to the already successful cooperation in the area of language.

Prof Du Plessis’s presentation titled “Nederlands, Afrikaans en die Afrikatale – kan samewerking slaag? Die geval MIDP in die Vrystaat”, investigated the successes that have been made with the MIDP. He discussed two possible approaches to cooperation in the areas of language, that of a sentimentalistic approach against an instrumentalistic approach.

Cooperation in the first approach makes language the aim. In the second approach language is used as a means to a greater aim. According to Prof du Plessis the first approach is driven by a romantisised idea about the relation between the Flemish and Afrikaans speaking people, which may unfortunately polarise the position of Afrikaans in South Africa even further.

He argues that, given the time that we are in, the second approach will deliver more constructive results as language can among others be used for to further democracy in South Africa. This can happen by cooperation in the institutionalising of multilingualism in our society. The more languages are used in education, law and government administration, the more we can be assured a successful democracy.

The Routes colloquium was facilitated by the well-known Flemish radio journalist, Jean-Pierre Rondas. About twenty South African and Flemish language specialists took part in the colloquium. Dr Fritz Kok, outgoing chief executive officer of the ATKV took part in the opening ceremony and Dr Neville Alexander from the University of Cape Town and well-known activist for multilingualism in South Africa was also one of the main speakers.

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