Food in university: the COVID-19 efects

Abstract

In times of pandemic caused by the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and the need for social distance, University Restaurants needed to adapt the way they work and provide food. This essay addresses changes in the production and distribution of meals at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), which, until mid-March 2020, happened through the free buffet-style food system for the entire academic community and, from the pandemic, it was changed to fractionated meals in lunchboxes only for students in socioeconomic vulnerability. In addition, the pandemic impacts on university students' food in other public higher education institutions in Brazil were also investigated and discussed. It was observed that the adaptations adopted pervade Food and Nutrition Security, food sovereignty and students' commensality, in the midst of an unknown and uncertain context, although essential. Finally, the new measures adopted by UFRGS were presented, which aim to reduce the negative effects of the pandemic on students in socioeconomic vulnerability, as well as reflected on the transformations in the traditional buffet meals.