Plenty of Soy Solutions for World Hunger: Day 13

On this Day 13 of 21 Days for World Hunger, I am still partaking in the World Hunger Diet in honor of those 1.02 billion people in this world who are living in hunger. Today I have the pleasure of sharing the insight from experts at Plenty.  Plenty International (check out their vibrant website) is an organization that believes all life is connected and how we live affects the world. Plenty’s founders were committed to creating an organization to help protect and share the world’s abundance and knowledge for the benefit of all people.

Plenty’s Mission is to assist in the protection, stewardship, and sharing of the world’s resources to promote the well being of the communities and environment we share.

Plenty began as an intentional community called The Farm with some of their earliest inspiration coming from organizations like Food First and its founder, Francis Moore Lappé, author of Diet for a Small Planet. Lappé claimed that the real causes of world hunger are not related to shortages of food, but rather how access to food is controlled by the food industry.  The Farm members researched and experimented with various vegetable proteins and agreed that the humble (organic, non-GMO) soybean was the answer to their growing community’s nutritional needs.

Plenty was founded in 1974 as an outreach charity of The Farm and became an international organization in 1976.

In 2008, Lisa Wartinger, Associate Director of Plenty wrote an article for the North American Vegetarian Society’s Vegetarian Voice magazine entitled “The World Food Crisis – a Vegetarian Perspective”. Here, Wartinger discusses how the humble soybean helped alleviate malnutrition in Guatemala after a devastating 1976 earthquake:

Plenty volunteers soon assisted Mayan villagers in the affected area, constructing houses, schools, installing water systems and providing medical care, utilizing the same community-building skills that created The Farm. Our eyes were opened to the high level of malnutrition of the rural poor, and growing soybeans and producing soy foods in Guatemala became a natural outgrowth of Plenty’s efforts. It eventually became a multi-year program that spawned the world’s first Mayan soy dairy and trained several thousand people how to prepare basic soy foods. Over time, Plenty’s soy work expanded to many other countries.

Plenty’s largest program in Central America is in Belize with a focus on sustainable agriculture. Plenty Belize Program Director Mark Miller reported: “Prices are getting harder for a lot of people to deal with. Flour increased by 60% and is harder to get. Belize exports corn and beans and produces enough rice for its people, but the pressure to export more to bring in cash for the economy is making it tough on the people here.

Corn prices have more than doubled since 2001-02. Chicken prices have gone up about 28 percent, and eggs about 33 percent in the past several months, mostly due to grain costs. While we know there really is a connection between using the grain for animal feed, people here are not really aware of it yet.”

Most of the world’s population has always relied upon three major grains for their food: wheat, rice, and maize, with wheat and rice the critical staple foods for the vast majority of the world’s poor. From Scientific American in a 2007 article entitled Future Farming: A Return to Roots?

Global food prices including these staple grains have been rising steadily since 2000, a whopping 83% over the last three years, according to the World Bank.

Zachary Sugg from World Resources Institute describes the generally acknowledged factors that contribute to the current food crisis:

• The high price of oil, which has affected every level of agricultural production and distribution, from packaging materials to inorganic fertilizers to transportation, including emergency food aid
• The use of food crops, such as corn, and the diversion of cropland for biofuels production (although relatively small impact as of 2007 less than 3.5 percent of world food production was processed into biofuels)
• Adverse weather conditions such as droughts or floods, whether caused by recognized climate patterns or shifts due to global climate change
• Commodity speculation by investors
• Lack of access to institutional support and markets amongst small scale farmers in the developing world—particularly in sub-Saharan Africa—which limits their ability to react to the incentives created by increased demand
• Domestic policy responses to higher food prices in developing countries—such as export taxes, bans, or other restrictions—which exacerbate the problem
• Increased demand for meat and dairy products in the developing world – requiring that more grain be fed to livestock

And still, meat consumption is on the rise as incomes and the push for “modernization” increases. The following figures from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) compare meat consumption for low, middle, and high-income countries in 1975 and 2002:

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, cites soy versus meat production studies from Europe, which showed that meat production (depending upon the type) uses 6 to 17 times as much land as soy. Water use was 4.4 to 26 times; and fossil fuels 6 to 20 times. Meat-based diets use about twice as many environmental resources as soy-based diets.

Wartinger adds how some analysts like Walden Bello and activist Vandana Shiva, argue that the most critical cause of the food crisis is the push to globalize agriculture with “free market” policies; thus liberalizing trade and allowing subsidized food produced by wealthier nations to unfairly supplant domestic production.

Countries that were former food producers and exporters like Mexico and the Philippines, have become net importers of food, thereby undermining their ability to meet their own domestic food needs and support local farming economies; ultimately, creating more poverty.

Soy to the Rescue

Hartinger shares how soy protein is equal in quality to animal protein, and requires less land to produce equivalent amounts. One pound of soybeans yields about one gallon of soy milk, at roughly 1/5 the price of cow’s milk. Soy milk and tofu (soy cheese) are easily incorporated into traditional foods to boost their protein, iron, calcium, and B vitamin content. Plenty’s Mayan friends in Guatemala have realized, first-hand, the benefits of including small amounts of fresh soy milk and tofu in their family diets. Their “lecheria de soya” in the town of Solola sells these foods to local residents.

Supporting local food self-sufficiency in Plenty’s communities as opposed to big investments in mono-cropping for export is key. This entails technological, material, and financial support for small farmers, community, family and school gardens, nutrition education, organic methods, as well as local food processing.  The end results are good nutrition and reduced hunger which produce better maternal and child health, lowered child mortality, and increased productivity and income.  These factors ease the grip of poverty and reduce negative human pressures on the environment—all of which create well-being and sustainability.

Answers from Plenty

I’ve had the pleasure over the last several days to interact on numerous occasions with the following three representatives from Plenty:  Peter Schweitzer, Executive Director, Lisa Wartinger, Associate Director, and Mark Miller, Executive Director of Plenty’s Belize program.  Each has taken time to answer my many questions.  Their answers follow my questions shown in bold.

Q:  Politics:  What prevents people (those living with hunger) from having an ample supply of food?

Limited access to arable land and/or seed, tools and too often farming skills may be lost among populations that have been made dependent upon food aid.  Limited access to land may be a result of political oppression and restrictive land rights as well as environmental degradation (deforestation, erosion etc.)

Q:  Is it true that the famine conditions in several third world countries are not the result of food shortages arising from natural calamities but the result of man-made disasters?

Even so-called natural disasters are typically exacerbated by human failures: witness the poorly constructed levees in New Orleans and inadequate evacuation planning and implementation. Witness the cheaply and poorly constructed over-crowded housing units in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and the decades of wrong-headed economic manipulations.  For example, the UN’s International Monetary Fund (IMF) mandated “structural adjustment” and so-called “trade liberalization” that can help diminish a country like Haiti’s food self-sufficiency while increasing dependency on more expensive imported foods and driving farming families into the big city to find jobs in export manufacturing industries.

From the post earthquake Haitian Government Recovery Plan:

The challenges of agriculture, livestock, fisheries and food weigh heavily on the socioeconomic situation and the future of the country. Today, agriculture remains the largest employment generator sector in Haiti: it occupies over 50 percent of the workforce. Therefore agriculture is one of the pillars of the country’s stability, an essential axis of its development. In the past, Haiti fully met the food needs of its population. This is no longer the case today: The country currently uses about 80 percent of its export earnings just to pay for food imports. Food insecurity is very high and makes the country and its people highly vulnerable to natural and socio-natural hazards and equally vulnerable vis-à-vis the fluctuating prices of basic food commodities on international markets.

In addition, the promotion of cheaper imported food alternatives has a direct negative impact on feeding the poor, as does a negative image of agriculture as a field of work. Work in agriculture is good work, and while the pay is typically not high, it allows for subsistence plus other family needs. Replacing traditional foods with imported foods leads to less work, and more poverty, more hunger, less food security.

Q:  What are the political obstacles to sustainable agriculture?  How are you overcoming those obstacles?

Responding to the obstacles as outlined above, Plenty is focused on supporting efforts by families and communities to achieve as much nutrition self-sufficiency as possible…to get higher and more nutritious yields off limited land resources by introducing organic permaculture methods and vegetable proteins like soy beans.

Education is also an important part of this effort, and Plenty has been working with school children and youths in particular to help address these problems.

Q:  What role does GM Food play in hindering sustainable agriculture for those living with hunger?

GM attacks and depletes traditional seed stock which often exhibits a pedigree going back many generations. GM seed is controlled by multi-nationals far removed from the village farmer.

Q:  What is the greatest cause of malnutrition for those living in dire conditions and what is the most optimal solution?

For people in truly dire conditions, food distribution and supplementation is a valid short term response. But other responses should be planned and implemented for the mid and long term. Plenty has been focusing on the mid and long term responses such as food security and sustainable agriculture.

Q:  I’m curious to know the reason you are currently targeting seven specific countries (Belize, Guatemala, Africa, Mexico, Nicaragua and the US).  Are these the regions that you believe are in the direst need?

The countries where Plenty is currently working were not selected by administrators but, more accurately, selected us. We went to Guatemala as a direct result of hearing about a big earthquake in 1976 on our ham radio. First-hand reports from the scene personalized the disaster for us. Working in Guatemala taught us a lot about the roots and dynamics of poverty and the kinds of things that an organization like Plenty could do to address them. We’re in Belize at least in part because we were invited to participate in a soy nutrition program being developed by an African-American woman in Oakland, California when we had a Plenty office in Oakland.

We got involved with Liberia when we got a phone call from an African-American couple who had moved there from Brooklyn and found themselves in the midst of a civil war in 1990. The couple knew of Plenty because they had used The Farm’s book, Spiritual Midwifery when they had their first baby. Most of our programs are at least 20 years old and are staffed by the local people. The key elements for us are to be invited, the existence of a real need and one that we believe Plenty can help with and the involvement of local people who are committed and want to work with us.

Q:  Could you tell me the staple foods of those living in hunger in those non-U.S. regions with which you operate?

Typically white rice is eaten, often cooked with some coconut milk. Beans are most often red or black, and sometimes split peas are eaten. Salsa is eaten in Belize, used in cooking chicken most commonly, rarely eaten as people in U.S. do. It is an extra for those who choose to afford.

In Southern Belize, the 3 big staple foods are: Rice, beans, and corn.  Some traditional staples include banana/plantain, ground foods (yams, cocoyams, yampi, etc.), breadfruit, and breadnut. These are being replaced as they are eaten less, and flour (especially white flour), potatoes, and ramen noodles are increasing. Chicken is the most prevalent protein in a Belizean meal at any time of day.

Q:  Given that last sentence stating how chicken is (or rather chickens are) the most prevalent protein in a Belizean meal at any time of day.  This is also the case for those living in hunger?  I assumed that those living in hunger wouldn’t have as much access to animal agriculture.

For those who are malnourished, living in hunger, chicken is still the most prevalent source of protein – if they are eating more than just corn tortillas. Belizeans will skip vegetables and fruits regularly. Chicken is relatively inexpensive due to the work of the Mennonite community in Belize.

Animal Agriculture

Manure is very valuable especially in rainy tropics where Nitrogen easily leaches out of the soil…I don’t think this is a reason why people eat meat, but it is a real value for helping to grow veggies. People do look at pigs particularly as a form of savings. You can sell a pig to pay for school fees or unexpected medical expenses. Many people have their pigs run free, and they fit into the tropical rain forest ecosystem relatively well. Cattle is growing in popularity more for export sales to Guatemala. Belizeans don’t eat much beef. Milk is usually powdered or canned.

Q:  I want to relay to the readers that they can receive ample protein through plant sources and how there is a worldwide misconception that one must eat animals to receive proper protein – especially given all the related diseases that come with animal consumption.  Black beans, yams and corn actually contain more protein than a serving of chicken.

Yes, Belizeans eat way too much protein, and not enough vegetables for a good balanced healthy diet. We know you don’t need to eat meat and that you can feed at least ten times the number of people off an acre of land with vegetable protein. Now we are learning that factory farming is a major consumer of water resources and a leading source of greenhouse gases. But most people in the world, even in very poor countries, are used to eating some meat (typically chicken or fish) everyday. People change eating habits only reluctantly, but we have had some success in teaching people alternatives like the variety of foods that can be made from soy and the importance of a variety of vegetables and organic home gardens.

The thing we have seen, for instance, in Guatemala among the Maya is that they tend to sell their beans for cash and eat mostly tortillas. We introduced the practice of mixing soy flour with the masa where 5 percent soy flour increases the protein value of masa by 20 percent. We have also found that even if you are eating enough, you can be malnourished if you suffer from intestinal parasites which are the prevalent case throughout communities where accessible potable running water is rare. So you have to deal with malnutrition from many different angles.

Q:  How would you compare the typical American diet to that of those living with hunger?

Much of the world is trying to copy the American diet. Buying processed food from a shop holds a higher level of prestige than growing your own food. This is leading to NCDs (Non-communicable Diseases) like diabetes, hypertension, etc.

Q:  What would you say is the number one realistic solution for eliminating world hunger and why?

There needs to be a paradigm shift in the allocation of global resources away from military and defense expenditures away from war and toward the elimination of poverty which kills 25,000 children every day. Every community deserves primary health care, which includes adequate accessible potable water. As a species we will be able to afford this the instant we eliminated killing each other as an acceptable means of solving our differences. We also have the effects of climate change to deal with. War is no longer an option.

Q:  What can I tell the readers about Plenty?

Plenty has been operating since 1974 and we are still amateurs in the field of alternative development. Every day brings new and invaluable lessons. After 36 years of doing this we can state unequivocally that any one person can make a difference. When you decide to help, you attract help. Miracles do happen. There is nothing we’d rather be doing.

Many thanks to Peter, Lisa and Mark of Plenty International for your on-going support and communication!  It’s been a pleasure learning from you!

So I am still on my world hunger journey.

Day 13…eight to go and counting.

I awoke this morning with an unexpected freshness that grew increasingly foggy as the day wore on.  I found myself needing numerous momentary breaks from my work, and I took them as desired – mostly in the form of hanging out on the floor with the puppy.  The fine filaments from her young coat that took up permanent residency on my clothes were no match for the resounding joy of being in the presence of her precious self.

A dinner of corn tortillas, beans, and rice was greatly appreciated.  I added some kale and garlic sautéed in a little oil and water.  I do believe kale is the medicine of the Gods!  Again, I couldn’t eat it all, polishing off the rest about 9:00 tonight.

Today’s Nutritional Intake – weighing in at 114.5

This quote was taken from the Plenty International site:

Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.

~Albert Einstein, after becoming vegetarian late in life

To support the organizations I write about in the series, purchase a World Hunger: Be the Solution Tee.  Proceeds from the shirt will go to the Small Planet Institute Fund and the International Fund for Africa.  All tees are sweat free and available in organic cotton.  To see the selection of World Hunger tees at Conducive’s Humanitarian & Human Rights Tee store, click here

To follow this series from the beginning, you can click the links below:

21 Days for World Hunger:  Day 1

21 Days for World Hunger:  Day 2

21 Days for World Hunger:  Day 3

21 Days for World Hunger:  Day 4

21 Days for World Hunger:  Day 5

21 Days for World Hunger:  Day 6

21 Days for World Hunger:  Day 7

21 Days for World Hunger:  Day 8

21 Days for World Hunger:  Day 9

21 Days for World Hunger:  Day 10

21 Days for World Hunger Day 11

21 Days for World Hunger Day 12

21 Days for World Hunger: Day 14

21 Days for World Hunger: Day 15

21 Days for World Hunger: Day 16

21 Days for World Hunger: Day 17

21 Days for World Hunger: Day 18

21 Days for World Hunger: Day 19

21 Days for World Hunger: Day 20

21 Days for World Hunger: Day 21

21 Days for World Hunger: Day 21

Solutions for World Hunger: Part I

Solutions for World Hunger: Part II

Solutions for World Hunger: Part III