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Haiti - Meds and Foods for Kids |
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Written by Larry Carpenter
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Monday, 23 February 2009 03:33 |
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Currently, the largest project we support is operating in Cap Haitien, Haiti. The operation, Meds and Foods for Kids (MFK) is led by Dr. Pat Wolff. She is a paediatrician from St. Louis and is also on the board of Toddler Food Partners and is our medical advisor. MFK currently operates a facility in Cap Haitien to manufacture Ready to Use Therapeutic Fook (RUTF). The physical facility is a two story house that MFK is renting. It works, but the layout is not very efficient. Most of the manufacturing takes place on the second floor, which requires all raw materials to be carried up a narrow flight of stairs. The peanut roasting takes place in an outbuilding and then must be carried to the manufacturing floor for grinding and mixing with other ingredients. MFK has recently launched a fund-raising campaign to fund the building of a new factory in Cap Haitien. This factory will be capable of producing much larger quantities of RUTF for distribution throughout Haiti. Toddler Food Partners fully supports this expansion and we are currently working with MFK and another partner, Compatible Technology International (CTI), to evaluate new production equipment that will eventually be installed in the new factory. MFK has produced a video that clearly shows the need for RUTF and how MFK is addressing that need. Click on "Get Involved" then "Donate". Or you can contact the Executive Director of Toddler Food Partners through the "Contact Us" selection on our Main Menu.
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 25 November 2009 20:19 |
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Helping Malnourished Kids |
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This ten-month-old child weighed only 7.3 pounds when he was brought to a clinic run by Meds and Foods for Kids (MFK) near Cap Haitein, Haiti. He had visible signs of severe malnutrition: sunken abdomen, ribs visible through the skin, reddish-colored hair. His mother had died when he was five months old. He was being cared for by a 30 year old cousin and, occasionally, a grandmother. His cousin was given a supply of Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) to feed him at home for the next week. |
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Last Updated on Thursday, 26 November 2009 17:28 |
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Read more...
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Written by Larry Carpenter
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Monday, 23 February 2009 03:39 |
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Toddler Food Partners has established a partnership with a church in Western Minnesota. The church, in turn, has established a sister parish relationship with a parish in Quillo Peru. |
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 24 February 2009 04:03 |
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Read more...
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Village Scale Manufacturing |
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Written by Larry Carpenter
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Wednesday, 25 November 2009 20:46 |
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Toddler Food Partners has teamed up with a partner organization, Compatible Technologies International (CTI), to help develop a village scale manufacturing facility. The pilot project is targeted for installation in India. The facility will be able to manufacture moderate quantities of RUTF suitable for treating malnourished children at the village level. Production is expected to be approximately 500 Kg/week. CTI personnel bring food engineering experience and TFP is focusing on the manufacturing process and equipment. TFP has been looking for cost effective off-the-shelf equipment that can be used to make RUTF. Standard RUTF is made from peanuts, milk powder, vegetable oil, sugar and a vitamin/mineral suppliment. The manufacturing process is as follows: - Roast the peanuts
- Grind the roasted peanuts
- Weigh each ingredient
- Combine the ingredients in a mixer
- Pass the mixture once more through a grinder
- Package the final product
Peanuts will be roasted in large woks over propane burners. The roasted peanuts will be ground in motorized CTI Omega grinders. Off the shelf food scales will be used to weigh the ingredients. The ingredients will be mixed in a hand turned stainless steel mixer. A hand cranked filler will be used to dispense the product into containers for distribution. A second version of RUTF is being evaluated. In this version, the milk powder will be replaced with chick pea flour which is more readily available in the target area. It is expected to be nutritionally similar to standard RUTF. |
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Last Updated on Thursday, 26 November 2009 05:19 |
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