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Fighting Food Insecurity at the University of the Free State

10 March 2022 | Story Anthony Mthembu | Photo Unsplash

Food security — The No Student Hungry team gearing up to start distributing food parcels to the selected students.

The UFS is one of the many institutions of higher learning where food insecurity is an active issue. However, the No Student Hungry Programme is one of the initiatives launched at the university to assist in fighting food insecurity at the institution.

The purpose of the programme

Since its inception in 2011, the initiative has assisted many students in acquiring a healthy meal. Additionally, the Food Environment Office also hands out food packages, so that students can continue to achieve academically. “We are trying to develop a healthy environment for students and make it easier for them to have a nice and healthy meal,” stated Annelize Visagie, who heads the Food Environment Office at the UFS. The Food Environment programme is spread out on all three campuses, each with its own facilitators. Furthermore, the programme mainly caters for students who are not funded by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) but who are excelling academically. The abovementioned students apply for assistance online, and a list is then drawn up of students who receive assistance for the year.

Alternative solutions to keep the initiative running

On the Bloemfontein Campus, the No Student Hungry Programme will be catering for 200 students in the 2022 academic year, assisting them with a daily nutritious meal. Additional food parcels are also handed out to provide further assistance. “We give food parcels to the students on the list every Tuesday and Thursday at the Thakaneng Bridge,” Visagie highlighted. However, she argues that catering for the student population through this programme can be a challenge, as the demand for assistance is growing rapidly and the ability to assist is limited. The programme relies on partnerships and sponsors to assist the student body. In fact, the coordinators of the programme currently have a memorandum of understanding with Tiger Brands according to which they deliver around 100 food parcels for distribution.

In addition, the coordinators have put in place alternative measures to ensure that they can provide more food to students. “The Kovsie Act Office, in partnership with the Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development, has started a food garden where healthy and nutritious produce are grown, in order to add value to the distribution,” she indicated. Although the programme can only assist to a point, students who are in desperate need of assistance are never turned away. In fact, the Social Support Unit at Thakaneng Bridge usually assists students with food vouchers for a maximum of four days.

A commitment to teaching healthy eating habits

The programme is not only committed to curbing food insecurity, but also to ensuring that students have a healthy and balanced diet. As such, a booklet is being issued by the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics in collaboration with the Department of Sustainable Food Systems and Development, which contains ways in which students can make a healthy meal using some of the ingredients offered in the food parcels.

“We want to teach students how to eat healthy in the cheapest way, because they don’t have a lot of money to buy expensive food products,” Visagie argued.

News Archive

Kovsies keep it green and clean

2012-09-10

Learners from surrounding schools do their bit for the environment taking part in the first ever Green Festival hosted on the Bloemfontein Campus.
10 September 2012

Celebrating all things green, the University of the Free State (UFS)’s first Green Festival started with a bang with the initiative being nominated for a national Eco-Logic Award.

The festival, hosted on Saturday 8 September 2012, drew the attention of a panel of highly respected environmentally aware individuals who selected the green initiative as one of five finalists in the recycling category of the Eco-logic awards. The awards are hosted in association with SABC3 and the university was selected out of nearly three hundred entries. The university will now compete with other finalists at a gala dinner at the Cradle of Humankind on 27 September 2012.

With learners from surrounding high schools who were invited to help clean parts of the city, the Bloemfontein Campus was abuzz with activity on Saturday. Staff and students from the university joined learners in taking part in activities such as the Green Film Festival where documentary movies on environmental issues were screened. Stalls and exhibitions displayed sustainable green materials and organic food. Residences took part in a body-painting competition to raise awareness about going green.

Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor, delivered a Green Festival address and praised Kovsie students for taking the lead in going green.“Our country’s future depends on us caring for the environment,” he told learners and students. “If we don’t take care of the environment, we will all be gone. It is about the next generation, about what we leave for the children.”

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