Student does her part to fight world hunger

Posted 25 October 2013

Devoting time and effort to charities fighting to end world hunger is something Food and Consumer studies student Victoria Jeffery feels extremely passionate about.

This desire to help saw the 19-year-old come together with other BSc (Hons) Food students at Harper Adams University to give up their time to help mark World Food Day last week.

Victoria was one of six students who baked dozens of Chelsea buns for the event, which raised £538 for Self Help Africa Shrewsbury, a charity which works with rural communities in Africa to help smallholder farmers produce enough food to feed themselves and earn a living from farming.

Victoria, from Outwood, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, said: “The whole charity thing has always been a big issue with me. Helping out at World Food Day was something a bit different and I was happy to get involved.

“I like the way Self Help Africa help educate the farmers and help them diversify to feed their families and earn a better living. I felt it was a worthy charity to contribute towards.”

The former Outwood Grange Academy pupil, who works part-time as a home care assistant in Shrewsbury during term time, selected her course at Harper Adams due to her love of food and nutrition.

The second year student said: “Food has always been something I have been interested in. I decided I didn’t want to study something purely academic and wanted to do something more practical based that I had a real passion for.

“I lost three-and-a-half stone before coming to university and it was make or break when I started at Harper Adams as to whether I would keep it off. I have managed to do it and it has been a big thing for me to maintain a balanced, healthy lifestyle.

“I can see myself going into the quality side of things such as production or manufacturing with a national or international company.

“I want to go on my placement year near home with someone like Aunt Bessie’s or Arla Foods. I’m lucky because I have quite a lot of options near home.”