After six months with no movement on my end, I am back and blogging about hunger issues and my personal journey in trying to figure them out.
Update about my life: Currently, I am working (well, interning = no money) with CATIE - El Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigacion y Ensenanza (Tropical Agriculture Center of Research and Higher Education) - in Turrialba, Costa Rica. This extremely unique institution was originally started by then Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace in 1940 in order to bolster the relations between American countries - remember, Costa Ricans are "Americans" too! Now, there are CATIE offices in many Latin American countries, as well as Spain, all of which have dedicated scientists, economists, etc working towards increasing human well-being and reducing rural poverty through education, research and technical cooperation as well as promoting sustainable agriculture and natural resource management - perfect for my Masters program.
Specifically, I am working on a proposal for funding a project on the reintroduction of neglected and underutilized species (NUS). As the title of this post says, the human diet consists of so few food crops compared to what exists. And the saddest thing is that these foods aren't even the healthiest for us! We are eating nutritionally-retarded crops and not reaping the benefits of indigenous or forgotten species that people have been living off of for years. The quinoa popularityexplosion in US health food stores has put that ancient grain back into the line of vision of many people, but it represents so many more foods that we have just neglected to cultivate on the large scale. Arracacha, jackfruit, camu camu, amaranth, soursop, lucuma, mangosteen, purslane, sapote, jicama, ulluco, the list goes on and on and on. And most likely you've only heard of maybe one or two of these crops, but most likely you don't recognize any. These crops are packed with some of the nutrients, micro and macro, that are needed to overcome many of the nutrient deficiencies in this world - iron, iodine, vitamin A, zinc, calcium, and selenium. And most are fruits, roots, tubers, or vegetables which means that their reintroduction into mainstream diet would not only mean an end to micronutrient malnutrition, but also the decline in overweight and obesity trends that have become rampant in the last couple decades all over the world.
Looking at the nutritional importance and diversity of these crops it's hard to believe that they are not being cultivated at higher levels. It's important, however, that if these foods were to be introduced into the world's diet, that they reach the people that need them the most. Let's look at quinoa again. Quinoa is cultivated primarily in Bolivia, but instead of benefiting from it's high iron and zinc levels, local Bolivians simply export their entire harvest off to the US and Europe for high payments based on foreign demand. They don't eat it, they don't cook with it, they don't see if for more than a couple weeks once it is harvested. So if these crops are to be reintroduced, it is necessary that the local communities that grow these important crops are able to use and eat them thereby improving local nutrition and health.
This work so far (only been here for 2 weeks!) has been eye-opening. I am learning about foods that I didn't even know existed. I am learning about the saddening diet trends in Latin Americans. And most importantly, my passion for improving worldwide food security has been strengthened and revived. So educated yourselves, folks! Stay away from highly processed and refined foods, and start getting your nutrients from good, wholesome foods instead of enriched crap and nutritional supplements. Know where your food comes from, and have faith that everything will work out in the end.
Mixed roots and tubers served at an integrated, organic farm in Costa Rica (yum!)
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