WISHH News

Commentary: A 12 Percent Soy Solution to Protein Deficiency
Published in: St. Louis - Post Dispatch
By Megan Puzey, 10/24/02 05.25 AM

WORLD HUNGER

A small commercial airplane launched my journey to Tajikistan far from Illinois' ready-to-harvest fields of soybeans and corn on Sept. 27.

In this landlocked former Soviet Republic that lies north of Afghanistan and west of China, nearly half of the children under 5 suffer from chronic malnutrition. Yet, I couldn't help but be excited about what was ahead and what it might mean for thousands of people who depend on wheat-based foods in Central Asia.

The belly of my plane carried a large black suitcase. I hoped its contents held an ingredient that could fill stomachs and meet important nutritional needs, particularly for protein. I was joining the World Food Programe and other organizations to test soy-fortified wheat flour.

Our work at the National Soybean Research Laboratory, my employer, has proved that adding 12 percent soy to a wheat flour could increase the protein content of foods by as much as 40 percent. In Tajikistan, I would team up with WFP staff and others to test it in such places as schools, commercial bakeries and home kitchens. It had to suit local tastes and practices, including being able to cling to the sides of a fire-heated tandoor clay oven.

If successful, WFP, Save the Children and similar organizations could move forward with confidence in distributing soy-fortified wheat flour to help provide complete nutrition in their assistance programs. The St. Louis-based American Soybean Association would also be interested for international marketing.

At the school we visited, the typical daily ration for the children is noodle soup, a slice of loaf bread, a bun and tea. On good days, a parent has potatoes, carrots or other vegetables to share for the soup. On great days, someone offers meat. Such days are not common, which is why the protein in our soy flour was so welcome.

The local cooks seemed pleased with the results after they adapted to the new texture of the bread. The kids said they preferred the soy-fortified flour buns to the ones they typically eat. Some children did not eat the bun, but saved it to take home to a younger sibling.

WFP associate Wafa Sidahmed has taken more of the flour donated by Archer Daniels Midland Co. to Afghanistan, where at least 9 million people are receiving U.S. food assistance. I'm optimistic that her trials will have similar positive results.

I returned home the week before the United Nations' World Food Day on Oct. 16. I have long known the statistics of hunger, such as the fact that more than 800 million people, primarily children and women, have too little to eat around the world. But now I have looked into the face of a malnourished orphan as I held out a piece of bread. I know firsthand what I had heard before -- hunger has a human face that deserves America's attention.

COMMENTARY: A FORUM FOR OTHER VOICES, IDEAS AND OPINIONS

Megan Puzey is a consultant to the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health, supported by the American Soybean Association and United Soybean Board, both based in St. Louis. She is a research specialist for the National Soybean Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Champaign.