August 29
Today, Karl and I made the journey to Sierra Leone. It is a verifiable journey! We flew from Ghana to the Lungi airport and then navigated a large crowd to buy tickets for the ferry- yes, that is correct. To reach Freetown, you have a choice of the local ferry or a quick helicopter ride. As Karl and I both share a dislike for confined spaces, it was an easy choice to vote for the ferry. We had met our colleague, Dr. MacNamara from the University of Illinois, in Accra and we took on the journey together. Dr. MacNamara has been working in Sierra Leone with our colleagues from Njala University for the last few years and was of great assistance in the navigation. After a short bus ride, we boarded the ferry and enjoyed local music videos as we traveled over a grumpy and bumpy sea.
When we landed and claimed our baggage, we traveled to our hotel in the heart of Freetown. For a Sunday evening, the town was active with several people out shopping and enjoying a walk through the city. It was a beautiful night with very agreeable temperatures. Freetown is a town of hills and we traveled several of those to our final destination. We are looking forward to seeing the city in the daylight and I am especially looking forward to seeing the mountains that surround the city and give the nation it's name-- Lion Mountains.
August 30
It is difficult to believe we are at the end of August; this summer has gone so quickly. The Food Processing and Fortification Workshop for Enhanced Nutrition in Sierra Leone was held in the Mamba Point Hotel and Conference Center. It was a nice morning with good sunshine but without the heavy heat and humidity we were expecting in the afternoon. Instead of heat we were met with repetative rain storms that darkened the skies.
The workshop was co-hosted by Helen Keller International, Njala University, and the University of Illinois. Over 40 participants attended the workshop where presentations were given about micro-nutrient needs, food fortification work in Sierra Leone, soy nutrition, flour fortification, HAACP and food safety, soy functionality and applications, and school nutrition.
It was a pleasure to be a part of the workshop and we thank Dr. MacNamara for his invitation. He has worked dilligently to reconnect the University of Illinois and Njala University. It is exciting to see this collaboration continue to grow.
Sierra Leone is a beautiful nation that is working to address many challenges. It is a nation with the second highest infant mortality rate, significant malnutrition and many developmental needs. These issues were all part of the topics discussed today and groups were gathered to work on creating solutions. This was also wonderful to witness.
After the workshop, we met with several of the attendees to answer questions and continue discussions on soy usage opportunites in Sierra Leone and enjoyed a dinner with a Helen Keller International representative.
Regards,
Bridget
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Adventures in Africa
August 23 and 24
Karl and I stepped off our 16 hour non-stop flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg, South Africa where we were greeted by a lovely, cool breeze. August is winter in South Africa. It was so refreshing after being cooped up in the stale air of the flight to feel the winter air. We then connected with a much shorter flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town. It was a pleasure to arrive in our hotel and see many of the Soy Innovations Africa conference participants and have the opportunity to greet each other before turning in for a night's rest.
The purpose of the Soy Innovations Africa conference is to cultivate potential in emerging markets. In this case, technology, investment and new strategies for developing successful small enterprises create a powerful, unique opportunity to engage business leaders in emerging markets with the potential of the soybean. Soyatech, in collaboration with NSRL, the World Soy Foundation and Soy in Southern Africa is hosting this two day conference to bring the best global resources to bear on the challenges of efficiently utilizing the world's most complete plant protein in emerging markets around the globe.
August 25
Today we had the time to register for the conference and finish last minute details for our presentations. We were pleased to see good participation for the conference. There were representatives from all over Africa, the U.S., Brazil and Europe. We enjoyed an excellent meeting with our partners from Impilo Products on our continuing work with soy enhanced "pop", or porridge for mine workers in the extensive mine industry of South Africa. We also worked on the upcoming project with a similar approach for farm workers that work in the growing fresh fruit and vegetable agriculture industry in South Africa. These soy enhanced porridges will provide a good source of protein and nutrition for employees in these growing industries.
August 26
Karl and I were greeted by old friends and colleagues as the conference began. It was remarkable to meet so many of the graduates of the INTSOY course. The INTSOY Short Course is held at NSRL each year. Karl, as the director of the INTSOY Short Course, does a fantastic job of gathering speakers, sponsors and participants from around the world who come together for a week of education, exchange and focus on soy processing, utilization and marketing. We are looking forward to the 2011 Short Course which will be held at the University of Illinois campus from June 5-10, 2011. For more information on the course, visit www.nsrl.illinois.edu/INTOSY/courses/index.html.
We were given the opportunity to present the unique work NSRL and the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH) is doing with soy products in our international development work. We especially focused on the efforts with soy in developing micro enterprises and small- to medium-sized enterprises as a part of the developing value chain and a way to encourage the use of healthy soy. My presentation describing NSRL's global activities was well received. As is often the case, NSRL was the only university-based organization promoting soybean processing and utilization. Later that evening we enjoyed a nice meeting with our friends from Soy Southern Africa and Insta Pro. It was great to learn of the enthusiasm for Soy Southern Africa and wonderful to hear that they had gained 20 new members for their organization during the conference.
August 27
We enjoyed another valuable day of the conference with great presentations on soy food products in Africa from karl, presentations on soy milk, soy usage in animal feed and even local soy production. That evening we also enjoyed a meeting with our friends from Soy Afric and the team from Soyatech. We worked on plans for the upcoming 2012 International Soy Processing and Utilization conference.
We returned to the hotel to pack up and plan for our travel the following morning to Accra, Ghana.
August 28
We said goodbye to our friends in South Africa and the beautiful weather in Cape Town. It is a lovely city with beautiful views of the harbor and a wonderful winter season. When we landed in Accra, we knew we had entered the Africa we are most familiar with. The heat was back, as were the crowds and general confusion at the luggage carousels. We were happy to leave our long flight behind. I was thiking back to my middle school geography lessons and remembering how large of a continent Africa truly is. It was a short night ahead of us but we were grateful for the overnight rest and looking forward to our travel to Sierra Leone.
Regards,
Bridget
Karl and I stepped off our 16 hour non-stop flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg, South Africa where we were greeted by a lovely, cool breeze. August is winter in South Africa. It was so refreshing after being cooped up in the stale air of the flight to feel the winter air. We then connected with a much shorter flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town. It was a pleasure to arrive in our hotel and see many of the Soy Innovations Africa conference participants and have the opportunity to greet each other before turning in for a night's rest.
The purpose of the Soy Innovations Africa conference is to cultivate potential in emerging markets. In this case, technology, investment and new strategies for developing successful small enterprises create a powerful, unique opportunity to engage business leaders in emerging markets with the potential of the soybean. Soyatech, in collaboration with NSRL, the World Soy Foundation and Soy in Southern Africa is hosting this two day conference to bring the best global resources to bear on the challenges of efficiently utilizing the world's most complete plant protein in emerging markets around the globe.
August 25
Today we had the time to register for the conference and finish last minute details for our presentations. We were pleased to see good participation for the conference. There were representatives from all over Africa, the U.S., Brazil and Europe. We enjoyed an excellent meeting with our partners from Impilo Products on our continuing work with soy enhanced "pop", or porridge for mine workers in the extensive mine industry of South Africa. We also worked on the upcoming project with a similar approach for farm workers that work in the growing fresh fruit and vegetable agriculture industry in South Africa. These soy enhanced porridges will provide a good source of protein and nutrition for employees in these growing industries.
August 26
Karl and I were greeted by old friends and colleagues as the conference began. It was remarkable to meet so many of the graduates of the INTSOY course. The INTSOY Short Course is held at NSRL each year. Karl, as the director of the INTSOY Short Course, does a fantastic job of gathering speakers, sponsors and participants from around the world who come together for a week of education, exchange and focus on soy processing, utilization and marketing. We are looking forward to the 2011 Short Course which will be held at the University of Illinois campus from June 5-10, 2011. For more information on the course, visit www.nsrl.illinois.edu/INTOSY/courses/index.html.
We were given the opportunity to present the unique work NSRL and the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH) is doing with soy products in our international development work. We especially focused on the efforts with soy in developing micro enterprises and small- to medium-sized enterprises as a part of the developing value chain and a way to encourage the use of healthy soy. My presentation describing NSRL's global activities was well received. As is often the case, NSRL was the only university-based organization promoting soybean processing and utilization. Later that evening we enjoyed a nice meeting with our friends from Soy Southern Africa and Insta Pro. It was great to learn of the enthusiasm for Soy Southern Africa and wonderful to hear that they had gained 20 new members for their organization during the conference.
August 27
We enjoyed another valuable day of the conference with great presentations on soy food products in Africa from karl, presentations on soy milk, soy usage in animal feed and even local soy production. That evening we also enjoyed a meeting with our friends from Soy Afric and the team from Soyatech. We worked on plans for the upcoming 2012 International Soy Processing and Utilization conference.
We returned to the hotel to pack up and plan for our travel the following morning to Accra, Ghana.
August 28
We said goodbye to our friends in South Africa and the beautiful weather in Cape Town. It is a lovely city with beautiful views of the harbor and a wonderful winter season. When we landed in Accra, we knew we had entered the Africa we are most familiar with. The heat was back, as were the crowds and general confusion at the luggage carousels. We were happy to leave our long flight behind. I was thiking back to my middle school geography lessons and remembering how large of a continent Africa truly is. It was a short night ahead of us but we were grateful for the overnight rest and looking forward to our travel to Sierra Leone.
Regards,
Bridget
Friday, August 20, 2010
NSRL staff talk with farmers at U of I Agronomy Day
Farmers take field tours of test plots. 
Brazilian visitor enjoys soy cookie!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Thursday was the 54th Annual Agronomy Day at the University of Illinois. Farmers, industry leaders, government officials and community members gathered at South Farms to find out about the latest production research underway at the U of I. Visitors had a chance to find out more about the latest breakthroughs in agriculture and technology regarding soybeans, corn, small grains, biotech, weed control, plant pathology, entomology, engineering and economics.
It was a beautiful summer day and the turnout was excellent. We partnered with the Illinois Soybean Association and shared information with visitors about soy production research. Our display highlighted our diverse work in production and nutrition research and international development programs.
The soy cookies and NSRL pens went fast at the NSRL display inside the exhibitor tent. Aside from offering goodies, I enjoyed visiting with people who did not know how check-off funding works. I shared information about how checkoff dollars fund so much more than "candles and crayons", as one frustrated farmer put it to me.
I heard many updates on how the growing season is progressing. Many farmers have struggled with inconsistent rain through the summer. While disease pressure in soybeans is generally low, reports of Sudden Death Syndrom (SDS) are coming out of northwestern Illinois. After visiting with growers at Agronomy Day, it sounds like corn throughout the state is drying down quickly. I've heard reports of corn going into the elevator at 14% moisture. There are reports of soybeans turning rapidly as well. Near my farm in southeastern Champaign County, some growers may be cutting beans in the next two weeks. What a different harvest season compared to last year - - thank goodness!
Take care,
Linda Lee
Monday, August 9, 2010
Soy Spaghetti is a big hit with Angels of Hope Homes in San Pedro Sula
This afternoon the Cooking with Soy Workshop is in the kitchen at CEPUDO. Over twenty five women from Angel of Hope Homes will be learning to use Textured Soy Protein in their favorite recipes and also get a chance to taste a few new recipes that include TSP. AOH are orphanages who care for children. Ruth is leading to cooking classes this afternoon. She has a soy baking microenterprise and is a very accomplished cook. She's also a whizz at using TSP and from the beginning has great command of the class. She gets them involved and busy right away and they're off and cooking. A few of the attendees are hesitant to taste the new dishes, but with a little coaxing they are pleasantly surprised by the taste.
The burners on the stoves are on high and though the fans overhead are on full speed, the kitchen is sweltering hot. It doesn't deter any of the women. They chop, mix, cut, stir and blend all afternoon. About 5:00pm all of their dishes are ready and we taste test what they've created and the soy spaghetti is their favorite for several reasons. 1) It tastes good 2) The children will like it 3) With 2 cups of TSP they can feed all their children.
The women pack up the leftovers to take with them. Each AOH Home receives a 50lb. bag of TSP and they want to make sure it makes it into their van. We take a group photo and some get ready to leave as it is 5:30pm and they still have a 3 hour drive ahead of them. We all hug and say goodbye. They are so happy to have be able to participate. They hold tight to the recipe sheets as they climb into the van. We wave goodbye and head back into the kitchen to help Ruth and her assistants clean up.
We take a quick tour of the CEPUDO warehouse and Carlso talks with us about all of their projects. We had a night meeting with Melany from Cargill to talk about our workshops and discuss Corporate Social Responsibility activities.
It's been an amazing day. We've learned so much, shared so much and really had a great time doing it. Our flight to Tegucilgalpa leaves very early, so I better end here and pack that luggage.
Hasta luego,
Melinda
Soy gets smiles from students in San Pedro Sula
Hola, como estas?
Carlos and Argentina, the soy chef for this morning, swing by the hotel to pick us up this morning. We are headed to an elementary school who receives Textured Soy Protein that can be used in their school meals. We bring in all our ingredients to the school kitchen and start getting set up in anticipation of the more than twenty parents, daycare workers and some representatives from humanitarian organizations who will be joining us for a hands on Cooking with Soy workshop. The kitchen is a buzz and dozens of the school children rush to the kitchen door to find out who we are and what we're doing here.
Once the women arrived, it didn't take them long for them to get out the bowls, spoons and roll up their sleeves and start combining the ingredients for enchiladas, pastelitos and huevos picados con chirzo. They love to cook and are very interested in getting recipes that use the TSP. Argentina was calm despite the chaos of twenty women cooking together. As the delcious smells started drifting out to the school's courtyard, the children came running back into the kitchen to check out our progress.
The water source comes from a spigot in the courtyard and we carry it in using large plastic bowls. The principal stops by to say hello and shoo the kids back to class. The plant manager from Cargill joins us to meet everyone and taste test our recipes. The children carry small plastic baggies filled with Coca Cola which they sip from a straw. All are wearing school uniforms. Many want to meet us and talk with us. Some want to touch my hair.
The kitchen just hums with activity and the cooks spice up their dishes with a little more chili powder, dried peppers and salt. The food is plentiful and delicious. The women are excited to get the recipes and take them home to make for their families. There's no copier at the school, so Claudia, a twelve year old, takes me to the local market that has a copier. It's about eight blocks through a residental area to get to the store which is a family run convenience food shop. The streets are dirt and rocks and along the way we see street dogs, women hanging out their laundry and old men sitting around small fires. The people are so welcoming and friendly. They want to talk with me, but I must say "yo Espanol un poco solamente". Claudia wants to stop by her house on the way back, so I can meet her mother. I meet her mother, two sisters and brother and have a chance to see her home. It is my first upclose view of poverty and I am astounded.
We rush back with the recipes and pack up quickly as we have another workshop this afternoon at the CEPUDO kitchen. It's been an awesome morning. The workshop went well. The TSP was a big hit and we're off to visit the headquarters of CEPUDO and set up for the next workshop.
Que pase un bien dia,
Melinda
Sunday, August 8, 2010
San Pedro Sula gets SUPERSIZED
As we leave the airport in San Pedro Sula, Honduras the sultry night air reminds us of the heat we just left in the Midwest. Courtney, Pascasie and I are warmly greeted by Carlos from CEPUDO. It's like we are old friends and he catches us up on what's been going on with soy in the schools, orphanages and daycares supported by his organization. He also shares with us the work CEPUDO is doing with building homes and starting tiliapia farms.
This is Courtney's second trip to Central America and the first for Pascasie and me. Pascasie can't get over the number of billboards for every kind of fast food - - Burger King, Popeyes and even Little Caesars Pizza. There seems to be a fast food establishment on every corner. Carlos explains that the influx of fast food restaurants hasn't necessarily been a good thing for San Pedro Sula. It is contributing to obesity and to some Hondurans, if you are seen by friends eating fast food it is a status symbol, even when the families disposable income can't support being supersized. That said, we are very hungry and convince Carlos to take us through the "Drive Matic" at McDonald's before dropping us at the hotel.
This is the beginning of a week long journey through Honduras and Guatemala. Tomorrow we will be helping out with two Cooking with Soy Workshops sponsored by CEPUDO and featuring Cargill Textured Soy Protein.
We are beginning to feel the effects of our day of travel, yet we are excited about the workshops tomorrow and look forward to seeing more of San Pedro Sula. We exchange our dollars for lempira, the currency of Honduras. I am grateful for Courtney's ability to communicate in Spanish. We then head up to our hotel rooms to settle in and prepare for a busy day tomorrow.
Buenas Noches,
Melinda
This is Courtney's second trip to Central America and the first for Pascasie and me. Pascasie can't get over the number of billboards for every kind of fast food - - Burger King, Popeyes and even Little Caesars Pizza. There seems to be a fast food establishment on every corner. Carlos explains that the influx of fast food restaurants hasn't necessarily been a good thing for San Pedro Sula. It is contributing to obesity and to some Hondurans, if you are seen by friends eating fast food it is a status symbol, even when the families disposable income can't support being supersized. That said, we are very hungry and convince Carlos to take us through the "Drive Matic" at McDonald's before dropping us at the hotel.
This is the beginning of a week long journey through Honduras and Guatemala. Tomorrow we will be helping out with two Cooking with Soy Workshops sponsored by CEPUDO and featuring Cargill Textured Soy Protein.
We are beginning to feel the effects of our day of travel, yet we are excited about the workshops tomorrow and look forward to seeing more of San Pedro Sula. We exchange our dollars for lempira, the currency of Honduras. I am grateful for Courtney's ability to communicate in Spanish. We then head up to our hotel rooms to settle in and prepare for a busy day tomorrow.
Buenas Noches,
Melinda
Saturday, August 7, 2010
City of the Jeepneys
Philippines
Now off to the "city of the jeepneys". Jeepneys are a public form of transportation in Manila (really the only form). When the U.S. left their army base in Manila, they left behind jeeps that had been used throughout the Pacific. The Filipinos took the jeeps, extended the frames, customized them to be a bit more flashy, and made them the vehicle of Manila's mass transit system.
We have traveled to Manila to visit the Nutrition Center of the Philippines (NCP) and the Food and Nutrition Research Institute Department of Science and Technology (FNRI-DOST). Both institutions are located in Taguig City, a district of Manila which is located approximately 6 miles southeast of the city's center.
The World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH) has collaborated with us in a project to provide soy flour through a Quality Samples Program (QSP) in Manila. NCP will see that the biscuit developed for the program will be implemented in local school nutrition programs in the Philippines.
NCP is an excellent partner with great experience in product development and implementation of these products. Their director, Dr. John Solon, is an excellent leader with a very talented and passionate staff. NCP is nationally recognized and respected as an institution that will help solve nutrition challenges in the Philippines for many years to come.
As we entered the campus where NCP is located, a banner was strung across the gate that announced August as Breastfeeding Awareness Month and this week (August 1-7) as Breastfeeding Awareness Week. The National Nutrition Council of the Philippines sponsors and promotes this in Manila. Although the Nutrition Council shares a building with NCP, these are two separate entities. The Nutrition Council is a branch of the government that oversees nutrition legislation on the national level.
The friendly staff welcomed us to NCP as we entered. We were delighted with the visit we had made, which was highlighted with a very successful and encouraging meeting with the staff as well as a tour of their processing and packaging facility. This is a great project for U.S. Soy!
Regards,
Nick Scates
Friday, August 6, 2010
Gold Mine of Knowledge at Soy Symposium in Surabaya Indonesia
Leaving the U.S.
Hello readers. This is my first blog writing experience with NSRL and also just happens to to be my first blog writing experience ever.
I am now on my way to Tokyo and we are ascending out of Detroit. So, given that everything works out as planned, I am en route to meet up with our executive director, Dr. Hans Stein, in Hong Kong. We will touch base, slap a high five, and take our separate flights to the great land of Surabaya, Indonesia of the 3rd Soy Symposium. Surabaya, Indonesia is the capitals city of East Java Island (Jakarta being the capital city of West Java Island). In fact, last year around this time, Dr. Karl Weingartner and I paid a visit to Jakarta where we learned so much about soy 's role there. Indonesia is country of several beautiful islands. I cannot wait to return and explore some more.
Indonesia
Indonesians have been consuming soy as far back as records are able to go on human life in that region. Asia, after all, is the birthplace of soy. What I have found is that in Indonesia, the most popular use of soy for human consumption is used in making tempe. Tempe is a value added product that surfaced in the 16th Century which utilizes the whole soybean. The whole soybean is allowed to ferment in a special environment of dry heat. The majority of tempe production occurs in the informal sector. Just like in many different segments of the informal sector, scores of entrepreneurs independently operate their own small scale tempe and tofu factories (shown the picture). This is a vertical business because the same group of people that produce the product will also sell their own product in the market or on the street sides. Unbelievably,m when visiting small scale tempe producer in West Java in 2009, I peeked into the storage room of a tempe/tofu producer and found the small 5ft. x 5ft hut supplied with U.S. soy.
Turns out, in 2007, Indonesian imported 1.1 million metric tons of soy and only produced 0.6 million metric tons. Ten years before that one could virtually reverse those numbers. In ten years, what makes a country turn from a soy producing country to a soy importing country?
In 1999, Indonesia held its first free parliamentary election. Indonesia is now the world's third largest democracy. The country also has the immediate advantage of manufacturing various goods at low cost due to the availability of low cost labor. Another factor is that more and more Indonesians are moving to the metropolitan areas.
The macro-economist in me now rests.
The Symposium
Monday's session was very interesting. It was a detailed introduction and look into the food industry in Indonesia. Information was delivered in many graphs showing aggregate data on what the Indonesian consumes, total soy consumption, and in what forms the soy is consumed.
I've been carrying around the canister that contains our NSRL international poster. I had the chance to display it during a poster session at the symposium and it generated much conversation about who we are what we do and our impact with soy around the world. I've used the poster to break the ice and have some quality conversations about how NSRL. NSRL's attractive gold color that represents our International Outreach Activities also stands for the 'gold quality' of knowledge that NSRL is willing to share with our partners and beneficiaries across the globe, knowledge of the benefits of using soy to combat hunger and improve nutrition.
Dr. Hans H. Stein gave a presentation at the conference on the amino acid profile of soy and how soy plays an essential role in delivering much needed protein to those who need it.
"Children have a much greater requirement for amino acids than adults if calculated as a percentage of the diet and if they consume diets that are mainly based on cereal grains and pulses, they usually do not receive sufficient quantities of amino acids." - Dr. Stein (from symposium presentation abstract). The participants really enjoyed his presentation. They soaked up what he had to say so well because they were hearing things from a new perspective. NSRL has definitely benefited the people attending this conference through the knowledge that has been shared here today. Moreover, NSRL has learned so much from this conference. It was amazing to hear what Indonesians had to say about soy in their part of the world. By listening to them, we have embarked into a new realm of understanding where Indonesia's priorities lie in the soy industry.
Add the industry knowledge of Dr. Mark Messina and Peter Golbitz to this equation and this symposium is a gold mine of opportunity for for knowledge transfer among the attendees.
Warmest Regards from Indonesia,
Nick Scates
Hello readers. This is my first blog writing experience with NSRL and also just happens to to be my first blog writing experience ever.
I am now on my way to Tokyo and we are ascending out of Detroit. So, given that everything works out as planned, I am en route to meet up with our executive director, Dr. Hans Stein, in Hong Kong. We will touch base, slap a high five, and take our separate flights to the great land of Surabaya, Indonesia of the 3rd Soy Symposium. Surabaya, Indonesia is the capitals city of East Java Island (Jakarta being the capital city of West Java Island). In fact, last year around this time, Dr. Karl Weingartner and I paid a visit to Jakarta where we learned so much about soy 's role there. Indonesia is country of several beautiful islands. I cannot wait to return and explore some more.
Indonesia
Indonesians have been consuming soy as far back as records are able to go on human life in that region. Asia, after all, is the birthplace of soy. What I have found is that in Indonesia, the most popular use of soy for human consumption is used in making tempe. Tempe is a value added product that surfaced in the 16th Century which utilizes the whole soybean. The whole soybean is allowed to ferment in a special environment of dry heat. The majority of tempe production occurs in the informal sector. Just like in many different segments of the informal sector, scores of entrepreneurs independently operate their own small scale tempe and tofu factories (shown the picture). This is a vertical business because the same group of people that produce the product will also sell their own product in the market or on the street sides. Unbelievably,m when visiting small scale tempe producer in West Java in 2009, I peeked into the storage room of a tempe/tofu producer and found the small 5ft. x 5ft hut supplied with U.S. soy.
Turns out, in 2007, Indonesian imported 1.1 million metric tons of soy and only produced 0.6 million metric tons. Ten years before that one could virtually reverse those numbers. In ten years, what makes a country turn from a soy producing country to a soy importing country?
In 1999, Indonesia held its first free parliamentary election. Indonesia is now the world's third largest democracy. The country also has the immediate advantage of manufacturing various goods at low cost due to the availability of low cost labor. Another factor is that more and more Indonesians are moving to the metropolitan areas.
The macro-economist in me now rests.
The Symposium
Monday's session was very interesting. It was a detailed introduction and look into the food industry in Indonesia. Information was delivered in many graphs showing aggregate data on what the Indonesian consumes, total soy consumption, and in what forms the soy is consumed.
I've been carrying around the canister that contains our NSRL international poster. I had the chance to display it during a poster session at the symposium and it generated much conversation about who we are what we do and our impact with soy around the world. I've used the poster to break the ice and have some quality conversations about how NSRL. NSRL's attractive gold color that represents our International Outreach Activities also stands for the 'gold quality' of knowledge that NSRL is willing to share with our partners and beneficiaries across the globe, knowledge of the benefits of using soy to combat hunger and improve nutrition.
Dr. Hans H. Stein gave a presentation at the conference on the amino acid profile of soy and how soy plays an essential role in delivering much needed protein to those who need it.
"Children have a much greater requirement for amino acids than adults if calculated as a percentage of the diet and if they consume diets that are mainly based on cereal grains and pulses, they usually do not receive sufficient quantities of amino acids." - Dr. Stein (from symposium presentation abstract). The participants really enjoyed his presentation. They soaked up what he had to say so well because they were hearing things from a new perspective. NSRL has definitely benefited the people attending this conference through the knowledge that has been shared here today. Moreover, NSRL has learned so much from this conference. It was amazing to hear what Indonesians had to say about soy in their part of the world. By listening to them, we have embarked into a new realm of understanding where Indonesia's priorities lie in the soy industry.
Add the industry knowledge of Dr. Mark Messina and Peter Golbitz to this equation and this symposium is a gold mine of opportunity for for knowledge transfer among the attendees.
Warmest Regards from Indonesia,
Nick Scates
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Midwest Food Bank clients enjoy soy enhanced hot meal
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
NSRL had the privilege of joining with the Midwest Food Bank (MFB) in Peoria last week to celebrate receipt of a check from the Community Foundation to support the Tender Mercies Program.
Tender Mercies is a collaboration between MFB and NSRL, who together created a pre-packaged, easy-to-prepare, highly nutritious, soy-enhanced hot meal mix that incorporates donated soy ingredients. Over the past six months, Stacey Krawczyk and Marilyn Nash have modified and adjusted recipes to get the right taste, texture and mouth feel that would be appealing and appetizing to MFB clients. Each packet of Tender Mercies can serve five people at a cost of about 11 cents per serving. The recipe blends Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP) with rice, dehydrated beans and chicken seasoning. 5 cups of boiling water is then added for a high fiber, high protein, nutritionally balanced and delicious meal.
The goal was to develop a soy-enhanced product that was highly adaptable and also enjoyable to eat. The chicken & rice hot meal has a two-year shelf life and visual instructions for preparation are on the label along with written instructions.
The media were invited in to taste the Chicken & Rice hot meal and they thought it tasted pretty good. MFB volunteers were on site assembling the hot meals and the media had a chance to tour the MFB facility.
There are several other soy-enhanced recipes in the pipeline that are being developed to be part of the Tender Mercies Program. Larry and Susan Herman have been excellent partners for NSRL. They are so passionate about their work and we really appreciate their commitment to making a difference in the lives of people who are hungry and food insecure. MFB will begin distributing Tender Mercies in mid-August to 190 not-for-profit organizations. MFB supplies food to about 70,000 people each month.
We are pleased to be making a difference with soy in our own backyard and look forward to working with MFB on future Tender Mercies products that provide highly nutritional soy solutions.
Regards,
Bridget
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