September 13, 2007
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I <3 PB!
Growing up, my lunch for around ten years of public school involved, in some way, a peanut butter and (grape) jelly sandwitch. There were very few exceptions to this formula. Today, of course, I have a more sophisticated palate.
Which means, really, that I buy organic peanut butter, raspberry jam, and have it on whole wheat breads.
I had an uncle (well, I'd still have one if he'd not divorced my aunt) who is old. Old and cranky. But, more to the point, old. He was in the Air Force and has both a doctorate and a medical degree and is a psychiatrist. I think he's in his 90s. And he still goes to the gym every day. His daily snack routine? Peanut butter on crackers (possibly Uneeda biscuits).
Coincidence? Or miracle food?
Anway, via a Sully link, peanut butter is being used to fight starvation in Malawi, a country where 70% of the children are malnourished. The results are glowing. Kids are being brought back from malnutrition and are staying nourished. Check out Project Peanut Butter for more information (and how cool is that name!). The peanut butter can be made locally, doesn't succumb to bacterial spoilage, and doesn't have to be cooked. George Washington Carver would be pleased (even if he didn't really invent peanut butter).
Comments (3)
hm...I'll be curious to read more on this.
on the surface it's a no brainer, in that peanuts are an extremely rich source of nutrients and protein just as they are, whereas corn is among the most limited of the major food crops in the amount of nutritional benefit it can provide.
my understanding of why people aren't already growing their own peanuts has been that if their region could sustain the crop it would be, but it can't. meaning it might be a source of shipped in foodstuff, but can't be grown by the locals in these areas. So you fix the short term problem, but still have a long term one. correct me if I'm wrong? Still even an improvement in the short term is an improvement.
Personally I think the stuff is great. It's part of that sparten, no spicy, yes-you-can-make-dinner-in-2-minutes diet I follow. If I had any pride dinner would be more than a peanut butter sandwich, a handful of fruit or salad, and a glass of milk, but I don't.
In this case, most of the ingredients can be grown locally in Malawi, including the peanuts. The vitamin/mineral additive comprising 1.6% of the total substance is the only thing that must be imported to Malawi. The biggest obstacles to overcoming malnutrition in Malawi seem to be 1) most families are subsistence farmers, and they don't have the capacity to grow diverse crops on their modest properties and 2) the establishment of a market economy in a developing country. With a developed market would come more diverse food supply. It's an interim measure, and vulnerable, potentially, if there is a disruption to the supply of the vitamin/mineral supplment additive, but the results are encouraging.
making me hungry for peanut-sweet potato soup... hmmmm
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