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WISHH News
Soybean Farmers, Cargill
Partner to Fight Hunger and Aids in Honduras
BLOOMINGTON, ILL. – Through
the Illinois Soybean Checkoff Board, Illinois farmers are using
their soybeans to feed the hungry in Honduras. Together with Cargill,
a trade team delivered a shipment of soy protein products last week
for use in four nutrition programs aimed at children, pregnant and
lactating women, and AIDS patients.
The team, consisting of soybean farmers Sharon Covert (Tiskilwa),
and Phil Bradshaw (Griggsville), food technologists from the University
of Illinois (Urbana), and Dr. Bruce Burdett, a Cargill representative
for Central America, traveled to Honduras earlier this month to
set up feeding trials with the four separate groups.
Donated by Cargill, defatted soy flour and textured soy flour will
be used for the initial trials. Through this effort, the trade team
hopes to demonstrate the value of soy proteins in alleviating hunger,
improving individuals’ nutritional choices and encouraging
the expanded use of soy proteins made available through private
voluntary organizations such as CARE Honduras and the United Nations’
World Food Programme for future projects. The trials are being conducted
through the soybean-checkoff-funded World Initiative for Soy in
Human Health (WISHH), a program designed to increase the amount
of soy protein used in humanitarian food programs.
A pilot program involving 11 schools in the city of Olancho will
introduce soy protein to children in a rural part of Honduras, hoping
to prove its worthiness of use for the more than 600,000 children
fed daily through the nation’s school lunch program. Children
will try textured soy flour and defatted soy flour to fortify products
they already eat such as rice, red beans and tortillas.
The pilot program to 336 families will introduce defatted soy flour
to their rations in order to increase the amount of protein in their
diets. Educational activities, including instruction on how to use
the flour in cooking, will also be a part of the program.
Three hundred HIV/AIDS affected families will receive defatted
soy flour and textured soy flour to demonstrate the health impacts
of soy protein for those with this disease. The WISHH Program will
add this product to a food basket of rice, sugar, red beans, corn
meal, and flour already compiled by the Ministry of Health and CARE
Honduras.
Finally, students at Honduras’ Zamarano University will develop
a school snack (not covered by the school lunch program) using soy
protein concentrate to introduce to school children. The trials
will start on a limited basis later this year.
All four programs were initiated during the trade team visit last
week, and will run for approximately 4-12 months. A press conference
in Honduras introduced the program to the people there, and those,
including Honduras’ first lady Dona Aguas Ocana De Maduro,
were in attendance to show support for the trials.
“The Illinois Soybean Checkoff Board is in Honduras to set
up feeding trials to prove soy’s worthiness for three different
groups of people: those affected by HIV/AIDS, women and children;
and children in the school lunch program,” said Sharon Covert,
Illinois Soybean Checkoff Board vice chairperson. “We hope
that these trials, conducted with soy protein products generously
donated by Cargill, will help private volunteer organizations and
other government organizations to see that soy is useful as a low-cost
protein source”.
About WISHH:
The WISHH program, initiated in 2000, was created by soybean farmers
in order to increase the amount of soy protein used in humanitarian
programs worldwide. In addition to having support from the United
Soybean Board and the American Soybean Association’s support,
the WISHH program receives funding from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,
Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Wisconsin and soybean producers
from the Northeastern United States. More information about WISHH
is available at www.wishh.org.
About Cargill:
Cargill, Incorporated is an international marketer, processor and
distributor of agricultural, food, financial and industrial products
and services with 98,000 employees in 61 countries. The company
provides distinctive customer solutions in supply chain management,
food applications, and health and nutrition.
For more information, contact:
Theresa Miller, Illinois Soybean Checkoff Board, (309) 663-7692,
millert@ilsoy.org
David Feider, Cargill, (952) 742 6910, david_feider@cargill.com
Access this release at www.ilsoy.org
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