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The experiences of community health workers affected by COVID-19 during the outbreak in South Africa
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COVID19- Corona Cooking


This project explored the changes in shopping, cooking and food consumption that have occurred globally during the COVID-19 lockdown crisis.

Project period


13 April 2020 – 31 December 2020

Project Summary

A partnership between UWC, the University of Antwerp and Katholieke Universiteit (KU) Leuven, this project explored the changes in shopping, cooking and food consumption that have occurred globally during the COVID-19 lockdown crisis. Forced to stay home, with restaurants in many countries closed, some people have resorted to ordering in prepared foods while others embarked on learning how to cook for the first time. Anecdotal evidence that many people have engaged in cooking less healthy meals has resulted in a major concern that overconsumption of these foods may affect the health of people globally.

The project produced a report – An Evaluation of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Perceived Social Distancing Policies in Relation to Planning, Selecting, and Preparing Healthy Meals: An Observational Study in 38 Countries Worldwide – and four webinar presentations: COVID 19 lockdown mental health consequences and changes with respect to shopping, food preparation and consumption among South Africans: Facebook survey. These were organised by the SASUF (South Africa Sweden University Forum) consortium, the University of Johannesburg’s Food Evolution Research Lab, UWC’s Faculty of Community and Health Sciences and the South African Association of Family Ecology and Consumer Science (SAAFECS).

The project was undertaken with financial support from the Research Foundation Flanders and Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

Partners and Collaborators

  • University of Antwerp
  • Katholieke Universiteit (KU) Leuven
  • Corona Cooking Survey Study Group
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