Is Your Heart as Big as a Peanut ?

you may think we’re crazy asking a question like that, but it’s really the best question we can ask you,  to ask yourself;  Since Today is World Food Day.

Do You Realize how easily a child can be fed ?

The Miracle of Plumpy Nut has brought hope and life to many children in some of the most hunger ridden countries on the globe.

this is our third psa of the week and the most important we think.

today we think about the hungry and those who are in need of food. take a look at this video on the miracle of Plumpy Nut from Anderson Cooper produced by CBS News.

As You Can Clearly see, the miracle of the Peanut is one that we can see over and over, from generation to generation. when Dr. George Washington Carver started his experiments with the humble Peanut; it was called the Groundnut – as it was from it’s origins in Africa.

Slaves brought it with them to plant and use as a remedy for a myriad of purposes. many people extoll the value of this wonderful and nutritious legume; yet some of the most needy children in India are denied the use of Plumpy Nut by their Own Government. that’s just a shame. if children are starving give them at least a small staple to keep their brains and bodies functioning until they can fend better for themselves.

it’s the adults who refuse to act quickly enough for the malnourished children.. and why ?

many say it’s because of graft, or personal grudges against those who would present the food to the hungry. some say it’s mistrust of the sources of the food – saying it might not be halal – What ? it’s a peanut. what could be added to a peanut ?

Won’t You Help to Feed the Children and to recognize the need globally for food security. too many of us throw food away into the rubbish bin; each night after dinner. yet somewhere in the world a child goes hungry.

Friends, Bloggers, Visitors -  Isn’t it time we started looking at our part in ending world hunger, and doing more about it ?

this is from Worldchanging.com – it’s well worth it to click in and visit their site, to see what you can do as an individual to end hunger, now.

Plumpy’nut is a peanut-based paste with the nutrition value of F-100 milk formula. Tasting like a slightly sweeter kind of peanut butter, it’s far more palatable than earlier efforts at a food based treatment for malnutrition. Plumpy’nut requires no preparation or mixing — it can be eaten right from the bag, actually — and is categorized by WHO as a Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF). Because plumpy’nut doesn’t require monitored mixing with clean water, it can be distributed directly to affected communities.

Plumpy’nut’s first major use was in Darfur, where over 300 metric tons have so far been distributed; as a result, malnutrition rates there have been cut in half. Plumpy’nut was also used in tsunami relief efforts, and in Malawi, “Project Peanut Butter” is making plumpy’nut with local materials:

Mark Manary, a pediatrician at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis established Project Peanut Butter in Malawi, in southern Africa. To reduce costs, it uses local ingredients as well as a mix of vitamins and minerals supplied by Nutriset. Dr. Manary hopes to crank out 150 metric tons a year to treat Malawi’s estimated 15,000 severely malnourished children. Dr. Manary initially used Plumpy’nut he’d received as a donation in 2001. Recovery rates soared to 95% from 25%. “We didn’t need a statistician to tell us this was better,” he says. “We figured if we wanted to continue, we needed to make it locally.”

[...] Despite the competition, Nutriset says it is open to local production. The company is hoping to establish a franchise network of local producers; it would supply its nutritional mix for a fee and offer advice on production and quality.

A simple idea, well-executed, with significantly positive results and opportunities for local empowerment. Plumpy’nut may have an odd name, but it’s clearly a worldchanging idea.