THRIVE ISSUE 6 DECEMBER 2025 15 Click Here For More Information on FERL Or Visit: www.ferl.co.za AI in Research: Power, Potential, and Ethical Pitfalls As academia grapples with the adoption of AI in research, teaching and learning, FERL in collaboration with the Nutrition Society of South Africa (NSSA) and Tourism Educators South Africa (TESA), hosted a webinar exploring the opportunities and challenges AI presents, its role and ethical application. Nutrition Status of Children in South Africa School nutrition is a frequent topic for scientific research. The National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP), in collaboration with the Nutrition Society of South Africa (NSSA) and the Food Evolution Research Laboratory and the Tiger Brands Foundation (TBF), hosted a webinar on nutrition matters titled Nutrition Status of Children in South Africa” KEY FERL PROJECTS: Projects through the FERL lens In 2024 FERL collaborated with South African Chefs to host a seminar celebrating the power of indigenous foods. The seminar titled Celebrating Indigenous Cuisine: Nourishing Community Wellbeing, was informed by insights from FERL research in this area and emphasised the decolonisation of South African cuisine, highlighting the nutritional benefits of indigenous foods and promoting their broader consumption. Another highlight is a project focussed on the use of Virtual Reality Technology for kitchen waste Management Training. This was amongst the projects from the university’s College of Business and Economics’ selected for the 2025 UJ Showcase. The project focusses on effective food waste management, combining education, learning research and innovation. It features a virtual reality kitchen setting where chefs and students enter a virtual space filled with ingredients, including misshapen fruits and vegetables. Participants are given two recipes to follow, while their actions are monitored for research purposes. Based on these observations, a training module will be developed to address food waste reduction. Participants will then undergo this training, with their knowledge and behaviour assessed before and after to measure impact.
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