10/21
2007
Can Plumpy Nut end World Hunger?
Plumpy Nut is a peanut butter, powder milk past that is saving Niger children from dying of malnutrition. I heard about it on this evening’s 60 Minutes.
Here’s a report on PN from UNICEF:
They made it sound so simple. Could it really be that easy?
I’ve always heard that World Hunger is more of distribution problem than lack of food. I bet Plumpy Nut has a good shelf-life and should be a lot easier to distribute than actual food. It sounds like a good temporary idea. Long-term, I don’t think handouts are an answer to anything.
I think our American children should receive this kind of information. It is a good lesson to be had. In my Spanish class we discussed staying in shape as the central focus of chapter five. I asked my students to find out the following:
BMI,the health problems associated with Fast food restaurants, Bulimia, Anorexia Nervosa, Cholesterol (good and bad, malnutrition and world hunger, Medicins sans frontier and their work worldwide, then we spoke of Plumpynut.
The students reflected on the money they spend in superfluous purchases… then… we read aloud the Project Peanut Butter and how the per capita income in Malawi, SubSaharan Africa, is $44 per year… they looked at their $70.00 + tennis shoes… what a wake up call!
Francesa, sounds like you’re teaching your kids way more than Spanish. Awesome! We need more teachers like you.
Eventually, I would like to adapt some of my WAIW? findings into various lesson plans for teachers to use. One of these days…
Nomad Foundation with Rotary clubs from California and Arizona are setting up a medical clinic about 30 K south of Ingal, Niger. Where can we purchase plumpy nut.
Robert,
The company that produces PlumpyNut is NutriSet. Here’s their PlumpyNut Page: http://www.nutriset.fr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&lang=en&id=30
From their FAQ’s:
Where can I get Nutriset products?
“Nutriset products are sold directly at our French site in Normandy, France. They are also available from our local partners. Depending on your location, the quantity you need and the export capacity of our partner, it can be useful to contact them directly”
One of the contacts they give is based in Niger. Their email address is: sta@intnet.ne
Good luck, keep up the good work, and let us know how it goes.