A l'UM la science [S04-ep02]: Students' food environment

[Podcast] - Published on September 26, 2024 in Science-Society

This week in A l'UM la science Angélique Rodhain and Karine Garcia, researchers at MRM talk to us about students' food environment. Sara Cavaliere from theICGM takes us on a tour of the fuel cell and electrolysis platform, and Marie Pequignot, operational director of Genopolys presents the Mediterranean Night of Women Researchers. Broadcast every Wednesday at 6pm on Divergence FM-93.9.

According to the latest survey by Fage, the leading student union, 20% of students don't eat enough and skip an average of 3.5 meals a week. 34% consider their diet to be unbalanced, marked by the consumption of fatty and sugary products. Their age group is also the most concerned by the rise in obesity. Covid brought this precarious diet to the attention of the general public, motivating the development of schemes such as the Crous 1euro meals scheme, which has since been extended to students on scholarship. Yet food insecurity is nothing new.

Preparing this topic brought back memories of my student days. The streetcar journeys to La Paillade, to stock up on weekly groceries in what was, at the time, the only accessible low-cost supermarket. That of a photographer friend whose job was to immortalize the contents of students' fridges. Her shots ranged from Alice's fridge, whose echoes revealed a diet made up exclusively of spaghetti and olive oil, to the stale smells wafting from Ivan's fridge, who was adept at recycling supermarket garbage cans at the cost of a little quarterly intoxication. Then there's Caroline and her organic vegetable juices bought at full price at the Biocoop in the town center. And let's not forget Yann, a brilliant student who's always in a hurry, buying ready-made meals and sandwiches as he goes.

These are profiles which, despite the 20 years that have passed, are not so far removed from what can be read in our guests' study. Angélique Rodhain and Karine Garcia are both marketing researchers at Montpellier Recherche en Management. Last July, they published an article entitled L'accessibilité alimentaire : une approche par l'expérience vécue des étudiants décohabitants in the journal Research et applications en marketing.

In the second half of the program, we return to charge our batteries at the Balard chemistry cluster with Sara Cavaliere. She takes us on a tour of theICGM's fuel cell and electrolysis platform. Here, hydrogen is used to convert and store energy. Fuel cells are already used in some cars, and could be extended to other mobility sectors such as air transport.

Finally, Marie Péquignot, Genopolys Operations Director, presents the Mediterranean Night of Women Researchers, which takes place on Friday 27 from 4.30 pm to 10.30 pm at the Lycée Joffre.

At UM la science you've got the program, here we go!

Coproduction: Divergence FM / Université de Montpellier
Animation: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: Aline Périault / Lucie Lecherbonnier
Reporting and editing: Lucie Lecherbonnier / Aline Périault
Production : Tom Chevalier

Listen to the program "A l'UM la science" on Divergence FM 93.9

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