BACKGROUND

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The world's population is more prosperous today as a whole than it has ever been. People all over the world have greater material wealth than ever before, although this has come with an inevitable environmental cost. As a result of a substantial increase in agricultural output, humanity has never had as many choices or access to such a wide variety of foods. Today's world food production can easily meet the nutritional needs of all of the planet's growing population.

Sustainable development, particularly in agriculture and food processing, should combine naturally with employment creation to create the basis for healthy nutrition.  However, ignorance, inadequate or mismanaged government programs, war and social oppression have produced huge imbalances in how food is distributed. In addition, the traditional trade between farmer and consumer in simpler, more basic foodstuffs is increasingly being replaced by the trade in highly processed, mass-produced foods which are often nutritionally inferior. These "modern" foods tend to be very dependent on the use of oils, salt, simple sugars and refined flours. In addition, agricultural trade barriers into wealthier countries have prevented the creation of modern agriculture and food industries in most developing countries.

The ironic result is that in the midst of great plenty, the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) estimates that about one-half of the world's population, wealthy and poor combined, suffers from poor nutrition of one kind or another. This is malnutrition, defined as an imbalance, either a deficiency or an excess, of a person's intake of nutrients and other dietary elements that are needed for a healthy life. (State of Food Insecurity, FAO 2019).

Looking beyond short-term feeding solutions, longer-term, more sustainable approaches must be used. Malnutrition Matters believes that empowerment of local people to take control of their nutritional needs is fundamental. An important part of this control is through access to appropriate food processing technologies that enable inexpensive, local processing of locally available fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes. This processing would enable both preparation of foods for immediate consumption, and inexpensive preservation of foods for consumption weeks or months later, via sterile canning/jarring or drying methods. For a large portion of the world, appropriate, affordable, locally adaptable food technology can accomplish the following:

• Put more control of the supply of healthy, fresh local foods into the hands of the local people. This reduces the dependence on more processed foods supplied mostly by large food companies whose products are too often expensive and deficient in essential nutrients. It also enables locals to decide what and how much value-added food to produce, and where and when to produce it. It also means that local institutions such as hospitals, schools, orphanages, retirement or convalescent homes, native reserves and others can control more of the nutrient quality of their food supply.

• Produce and preserve food for extended shelf-life to avoid spoilage, which is particularly necessary when primary crops become ripe and are in great supply. Often there is a glut of certain crops and there is mass spoilage due to inadequate processing / preserving options. This will help feed local people long after harvests, with cheaper, more hygienic and more convenient foods than would be possible from the raw foods directly.

• Address the malnutrition needs of the local population or group either by providing more or better protein and complex carbohydrates, less fats and/or more vitamins and minerals. An aqueous food solution also provides much-needed clean water and is an ideal vehicle for adding key micronutrients such as Vitamin A, iron, iodine, riboflavin, niacinamide, Vitamin C and Vitamin E, the deficiencies of which affects over half of the world's population.

• Serve as an educational outlet for teaching people about nutrition, how to make various foods adapted to local preferences and to train others on how to use the technology.

Food Products

Malnutrition Matters is focusing its efforts on a number of nutritious plant sources for which reliable food processing technologies are available, and promotes the use of inexpensive technology for processing these foods into healthy, value-added products. We have developed and continue to develop, innovative, inexpensive technologies for processing some of these foods. For example, the VitaGoat is a versatile system which can produce many dry or aqueous foods, without the need for electricity or running water, making it ideal for rural or small village environments (see the "VitaGoat" section). The plant products being processed are either locally available and inexpensive when in season, or are generally easy to grow and cultivate, and are nutritious, either in protein, micronutrient, fiber or even type of fat content. The fruits and vegetables have micronutrients such as Vitamins A and C and a host of other natural plant compounds that are key elements for the maintenance of good health.

Soya is a staple protein source in most Asian countries, and has been for over a thousand years. Soy foods have now also entered the mainstream market in western countries. Recent medical studies have shown that soy contains many phytochemicals (natural plant compounds) that can prevent or alleviate the symptoms of heart disease, some cancers, diabetes, osteoporosis and other ailments. Soya is the only plant to have all eight essential amino acids with adequate nutritional balance. The whole seed, including insoluble fiber, can be used to make a wide variety of foods. In particular, soy has proven to be an excellent alternative to dairy products, especially soymilk and derivatives such as tofu, yogurt, and other products. See the Soya Dairy Resource Guide (download from the VitaGoat page) for numerous recipes and health-related information. These products can be consumed fresh, without the need for refrigeration, can be bottled (sterile) to enable a long shelf life without refrigeration or can be packaged and / or refrigerated to enable longer shelf life and distribution.

Fruits and Vegetables such as mangoes, tomatoes, papayas, cassava and others can also be used as raw food input for such technology. In this case the output is soups, purees, nectars, spreads, juices and other products that can be produced quickly, for immediate consumption or for preserving and packaging (or naturally dried products as outlined below). They may also be blended with soy or other primary inputs. A diet high in fruits and vegetables is recommended by all nutritionists for alleviating or helping to prevent a host of health ailments. Natural plant phytochemicals (for example lycopene from tomatoes) are now commonly considered as having specific disease prevention or curative benefits. The SolarFlex Fruit and Vegetable Dryer enables drying of these same foods without the need for preservatives, which will extend their shelf life and retain virtually all of the vitamin and micro-nutrient content.

Cereals and Grains including rice and locally available staples such as corn, millet, sorghum and others can be processed with the equipment. These can either be blended in a semi-liquid solution to make nutritious cooked gruels and pastes, or they can be dry milled to create coarse meal or flour.

Nuts and Beans such as peanuts, coffee or roasted soybeans can be ground to yield peanut butter, ground coffee, or soy coffee respectively. Many other nuts or beans (roasted or raw) can also be processed, saving countless hours of backbreaking manual labour conventionally used to grind or mash these foods. These products can be processed with the pedal-driven cycle grinder only and do not require cooking, so do not need the boiler or cooker components that the other value-added foods need.

Health Benefits

The SoyCow/SoyaGoat/VitaGoat and the SoyaKit can process nutritious, locally available foods that can be consumed immediately or further sterilized (using the same equipment) for longer shelf life (up to one year at room temperature). This means that foods are processed when they are fresh and nutrient-rich, and will not spoil or deteriorate. Soy foods are very high in protein and are a much less expensive way to consume adequate protein levels as opposed to other products such as meat, eggs or fish. The SolarFlex dryer is used to preserve fresh fruit, vegetables and other foods, and is especially useful when such foods are in a glut of supply. Through providing very long shelf life and maintaining the nutritional benefits of fresh foods, this system serves to address seasonal food security issues, offering stable year-round access to certain foods that are normally only available in the harvest season.

Example of Protein Needs and Soy Foods

The average healthy adult needs approx. 0.8 g of "high-quality" protein for every kg of body weight. These requirements go up for infants (up to 2 g per kg), adolescents (up to 1.2 g per kg) and pregnant women. Protein deficiency (PD) can cause a host of ailments that can progress slowly or quickly, depending on how healthy or sick the individual is. PD can be mild or severe, and affects up to 70 % of the children in some developing countries. Soya is comprised of "high-quality" protein, that which the body most easily digests, and is the only plant to have all essential amino acids in adequate proportion.

Each liter of soymilk contains approx. 25-30 g of protein and each kg of tofu, approx. 100-135 g.

*This table assumes a 300ml soymilk serving and a 150g tofu serving.

Recent research has also shown that cooking can increase the nutrition of certain vegetables (such as carrots and tomatoes). In addition, the products produced with the system have been sterilized beyond pasteurization temperatures, and so the water and food do not harbor parasites or other harmful microorganisms.

Malnutrition

Malnutrition has several primary causes.

Hunger, the most insidious, is mainly a deficiency of calories and protein. The main cause of hunger is poverty. Hunger is most devastating when it attacks children, since it can affect their mental and physical development for the rest of their lives, thus deepening the poverty cycle since they have less access to education and opportunities for work later in life. However, hunger also seriously affects adults, impeding their productivity and creating a host of associated health problems, making their lives even more difficult. The terrible effects and legacy of HIV/AIDS are also tightly linked to hunger and malnutrition. The W.H.O. estimates the size of this group at roughly 2 billion people.

Micronutrient and/or protein deficiency is shown in a very large group of malnourished people. They either do not receive adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals (micronutrients), or the correct proportion of protein in their diets. This can also have very debilitating effects on people and societies. The health symptoms may not be immediately visible to either the individuals themselves or to health workers, or they can take years to manifest themselves. The result is lost productivity, and a great increase in health care costs which negatively affects other government attempts to improve the quality of life - aside from the enormous social cost.

For example, many older people in all countries have serious protein and micronutrient deficiencies. As people age, their traditional foods may be difficult to chew, swallow or digest, or they may seem bland, and eating then loses its appeal. And many aboriginal groups worldwide now suffer from a host of diseases previously unknown to them such as diabetes and certain cancers. This is largely due to a shift from more traditional diets, which included fresh meat, vegetables, fruits, legumes and nuts, to some of the highly processed foods of the "modern" society, which are often very nutrient-deficient. Another example would be most people from the former Eastern Bloc and Soviet Union countries, who consume sufficient or too many calories, but who have protein, vitamin and mineral deficiencies. The worldwide size of this group is estimated at 2 billion people.

Over-consumption, taking in many more calories than required, is often accompanied by a deficiency in vitamins and minerals. Many food companies sometimes exploit the human inclination towards fatty and sugary foods by offering consumers cheap and often nutritionally empty products. Compounded with their reduced physical activity and greater meat consumption, these people, the overweight and obese, are a fast-growing segment of the world's population. Ironically they often live, as the middle and upper class, in those countries where hunger is prevalent, such as in India and China. The health care costs, missed productivity and environmental costs associated with this group are huge. The W.H.O. estimates this group to be 2.4 billion people worldwide.

The common threat that affects all of these groups, 4.4 billion people, is malnutrition.