CARE Highlights U.S. Corn-Soy Blend as a Tool
for its Hunger Fighting Efforts
Soy-based ‘Superflour’ used to permanently defeat poverty from Honduras to Sudan
June 1, 2005 -- CARE, the humanitarian organization that fights global poverty, has sent packets of Corn Soy Blend to many of its U.S. donors to highlight how CARE uses this tool in their poverty-fighting arsenal. “Superflour” is what CARE field staff regularly call the product that is made from U.S. soybean flour and cornmeal fortified with vitamins and minerals. CARE asked the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH) and the National Soybean Research Laboratory to assist in producing the packets that were shipped with the “A Healthy Future Starts Here” brochure that also shows fields of U.S. soybeans and corn.
“The key ingredient is the soy,” said CARE President and Chief Executive Officer Peter D. Bell in his letter that accompanied the packets of Corn Soy Blend. “Soybeans are packed with protein and nutrients often lacking in poor families’ diets. Soy is nothing short of a phenomenon!”
 Ethiopia is one of the countries around the world where CARE says soy is the key ingredient to help families stay healthy today so they can support themselves tomorrow. Photo Credit: 2002 CARE/Marco Longari |
CARE and WISHH both focus on how to promote long-term sustainable development that ends poverty and allows for economic progress in developing countries. “When you and I work together to bring this Corn Soy ‘superflour’ to impoverished people and disaster survivors, their hunger is quieted,” Bell said. “Their health turns around. And they discover there is hope for a better life, free from poverty.”
“CARE has long recognized the benefits of soy protein in global diets,” said WISHH Director Jim Hershey. “WISHH is pleased to assist these groups in taking additional advantage of the many new high-protein products, like textured soy protein, which are now available and easily incorporated in diverse diets. Our strategy of offering product samples and technical assistance works with the humanitarian community as well as food industries in developing countries that can use soy in businesses that create long-term economic opportunities.”
CARE is particularly concerned about empowering women in developing countries to improve their own health as well as that of their children. Thousands of lactating mothers have learned from CARE about how they can enhance their own breast milk by incorporating Corn Soy Blend into their diet. CARE’s programs are helping babies get a good start on life. “This is not just good for babies. When older children and adults add Corn Soy Blend to their diet, they finally get the nutrition missing from meals consisting of a single staple like corn or rice,” Bell said. “They regain strength and can concentrate better in school, or even earn a living for their family.”
Along with the samples of Corn Soy Blend, CARE provided recipes that their offices offer overseas and that U.S. recipients could also make in their own home. The Fruit and Corn Soy Smoothie and the Corn Soy Flatbread are just two of the many recipes that CARE has shared with families around the world to help families stay healthy today so they can support themselves tomorrow.
U.S. soybean farmers launched the WISHH in 2000, and the program has since worked in 23 countries. WISHH’s mission is to create sustainable solutions for the protein demands of people in developing countries through the introduction and use of U.S. soy products.
To support CARE and their tax deductible efforts, send checks to CARE, 151 Ellis Street NE, Atlanta, GA 30303-2440.
To learn more about CARE, go to www.care.org
To learn more about WISHH, go to www.wishh.org
