Soy Flour Headed to Afghanistan
ASA and USDA partnering to help human health.
Compiled by staff
Published: Dec 21, 2010
Five thousand women and their families in Afghanistan will soon benefit from a shipment of U.S. soy flour. The 3,525 50-pound bags are being shipped from the Port of Virginia by the American Soybean Association's World Initiative for Soy in Human Health and USDA. USDA purchased the soy flour as part of its cooperative agreement with ASA under the USDA Food for Progress Program. Cargill's Cedar Rapids, Iowa facility produced the soy flour, which readily increases the protein content of traditional naan breads as well as makes soymilk and other foods.
Once the soy flour completes its 7,000-plus mile journey, WISHH and its partners will work with the Afghanistan Ministry of Women's Affairs to distribute "family size" portions of the soy flour. According to UNICEF, more than half of Afghan children under five suffer from moderate or severe stunting. Twenty-five percent of children die before reaching their fifth birthday. The health of rural Afghan people, particularly women and children, is often the worst in the nation.
ASA Board member Bruce Hall, a soybean grower from La Crosse, Virginia, says they applaud USDA for putting soy flour to such good use. Soy is an important tool to improve individual lives as well as the economies of developing countries. The WISHH program is managed from ASA's world headquarters in Saint Louis.
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Tagged: usda, ASA, soybean, soybean association, American Soybean Association
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