Hunger's Anti-Twinkie: PlumpyNut

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Why does it take so long, so often, to spread good news? Last night, CBS's 60 Minutes aired a story about a rare "good news story about malnutrition" -- already 2-3 years old. It's a simple recipe, as "peppy and cheap" as any executive could dream of, brought to you by Doctors Without Borders. It's such a no-brainer that it seems a crime that no one concocted and rolled out such a solution before. The miracle cure is a "nutrient dense ready-to-use food" (RUF) made of peanut butter, powdered milk, powdered sugar, and enriched with vitamins and minerals. "It tastes like a peanut butter paste," reported Anderson Cooper. "It is very sweet, and because of that kids cannot get enough of it." The name? "PlumpyNut" by Nutriset of France, a company "fully dedicated to nutritional issues in developing countries". Think of our own soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan right now, with their "MREs" -- now at last there is an equivalent for another war: the war against hunger. Consider these facts about PlumpyNut: Requires no final preparation or special storage Costs approximately $1/day/child * Produces easily in nearby facilities * Save the Children (UK) asks for GBP 26/month/child Respectfully, shouldn't organizations like Chefs for Humanity consider supporting PlumpyNut for malnutrition hotspots around the world? When people are hungry -- starving to death -- what they need from chefs is the right recipe. Video: UNICEF (YouTube.com) Related news: MSF USA - Doctors Without Borders MSF Australis MSF France (video) UNICEF Related news: 60 Minutes Independent CNN Money International Herald Tribune New York Times The Times Previous articles: [Chefs & Charity - complete] [Hurricane Katrina - complete] [Asian Tsunami - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, Medecins Sans Frontieres, Doctors Without Borders, hunger, PlumpyNut, PlumpyNut --> back to Super Chef