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May 6th, 2008

Haiti: finding relief for hunger in children

Posted by: Juliana Rincon

Juliana Rincon is video editor of Global Voices, which monitors citizen media in the developing world. Thomson Reuters is not responsible for the content of this post — the views are the author’s alone.

Reasons not to Overeat by BreezeDebris(lucidnutrition.com) used according to CC license.
Reasons not to Overeat by BreezeDebris

The international food shortage and crisis is doing its rounds on the blogosphere, and videos are no exception. From Haiti: people eating dirt to survive, and a plan to help feed hungry Haitian children. Haiti is the poorest country in the American continent, and hunger has been an important issue since before this crisis took to the headlines.

On YouTube toddgsapp shows us a video of the process by which a family makes mud cakes, not only to eat themselves, but also to sell. These dirt cookies or mud cakes are made out of dirt, shortening and salt, and are sometimes their only means of sustenance.

Food for thought, isn’t it?

lovinitwithhim uploaded a video on the Haitian Food crisis for Kids Against Hunger you can see here.

With the following video by mfkhaiti for Meds and Food for Kids (MFK) in Haiti we are given an insight into an NGO seeking and testing a possible solution for malnutrition in children, based on a high energy peanut butter product that is ready to use and to be given to the children. Said to contain peanuts, powdered milk, sugar, oil, vitamins and minerals, it is produced locally using Haitian peanuts harvested from local farmers and all the other ingredients are purchased locally, helping the economy. According to MFK, it costs $68 for a full dosage of the ready to use therapeutic food, or Medikal Mamba as it is known locally, to be given to a child and bring them back to life. Following, the first of three videos on their peanut butter product to help cure malnutrition in children.