The NGO ‘Observatorio de Universidades’ (OBU,Observatory of Universities) in its most recent bulletin indicated that 96% of students at public universities in Venezuela do not have the cafeteria service, which has been paralyzed since 2018, in the midst of the humanitarian, economic and food crisis that the nation went through.
By: Yanitza Martínez / Correspondent lapatilla.com
The impact generated by the lack of the cafeteria service is such that a large number of students have dropped out, mostly those from the interior of the country, who depended on university cafeterias for 80% of their meals.
The NGO points out that not having a cafeteria has forced students to increase their consumption of processed foods such as the popular “street combos”, reducing the consumption of animal and vegetable protein. According to the Survey of Living Conditions of the University Population of Venezuela, 32% of professors and 21% of students ate less than three times a day during the year 2023.
Low food intake
The worst-fed university students study in the Guayana region, as reported by the OBU in its bulletin. In this jurisdiction, more than a third of students cannot afford simple meals, and those who do, consume very low-quality food.
The northeastern region is in second place. The reality of the Universidad de Oriente is critical and for at least 6 years this school has not had a cafeteria service in any of its five campuses.
According to the food consumption score, in Venezuela 27% of university teachers and 18% of students live in poor and limited homes, says the OBU, and this study showed that both teachers and students ate less than three times a day, after a survey carried out in five regions of Venezuela.
Lara does not escape the problem
Lapatilla.com consulted sociologist Carlos Meléndez, who is also a director of the Observatory of Universities, and mentioned that in Lara, as well as in the rest of the states of Venezuela, in school cafeterias ceased their operation in 2018.
The cafeterias are part of the student benefits and the completion of higher studies depends in part on the food service, which is why there is a high rate of desertion and abandonment in universities.
Meléndez reveals that in Lara, the Universidad Centro Occidental Lisandro Alvarado (UCLA) had seven cafeterias, including its external nuclei. Of those 7 cafeterias, only one is still operating, located in the Dean’s Office of Health Sciences, where they only serve 400 meals a day.
This university is one of the most important in Lara, it has an enrollment of 8,000 students and only 5% benefit from the cafeteria service. A similar case occurs at the University of Zulia (LUZ), where they currently serve about the same amount of meals, according to the sociologist.
Material and infrastructure losses
According to Carlos Meléndez, the material loss within the university cafeterias of Lara cannot be quantified, but the almost absolute disappearance of the cafeterias in Venezuela occurred between 2018 and 2020, and with the return to classes after the pandemic, they could not be recovered either.
In Lara State, only initiatives have emerged from students. One of them in 2023 with the support of collaborators, but this has been insufficient.
Among other things, the sociologist commented that the loss of infrastructure has to do with the lack of a budget, also pointing out that the current budget deficit is greater than 90%.
Added to that there is the impact of robberies and thefts that are related to the fact that universities have not had enough budget to hire the necessary security and protect their assets, so crime has done its job and most of these premises have been robbed.
Why do university cafeterias stop working? It is a question that many ask themselves and in this regard, Carlos Meléndez details that the cafeterias operated through private service contractors and these stopped working because the universities paid 90% of the value of the tray, but at a certain point, the Office of Planning of the Educational Sector stopped sending resources.
At that time, they only served carbohydrates with vegetable protein, until mid-2018, when universities were left with nothing and the service disappeared completely.
University cafeterias are not a priority
Thinking about having a student canteen service again, as in previous years, is a very remote possibility, since this has not been a priority for the Government. This is underscored by the sociologist, who on the other hand, said that the infrastructures are very large and recovering them would be very difficult, due to the budgetary shortages of the country’s public universities.
Despite this, the students, at least in the state of Lara, have met and organized to help collaboratively the companies that provide this service, but the efforts have not yielded much fruit.
What is now sought is to demand that the ‘Ministerio de Educación Superior’ (Ministry of Higher Education) to provide a budget for the cafeterias in front of the authorities, within the necessary organization of the area of student welfare to guarantee the distribution of meals and to be a mediator between the students and the university.
It is worth mentioning that one of the consequences of the lack of cafeterias is not being able to contribute to the reduction of food insecurity that exists throughout universities and to the undernourishment among university students, who have increased their intake of processed foods.
To date, the OBU is not aware of any food projects for the country’s public universities, which is why the presence of young people pursuing higher education is increasingly compromised since the cafeteria is precisely one of the variables that guarantees it.