PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME!!!
I have quite a visual right now. No, it’s not just the dancing banana but rather what it must have looked like to see me hopping around the room, raising the roof and switching from foot to foot. It was during the StartingBloc Boston Institute this past February, and a vote the day before had provided the opportunity for me and three others to talk for 10 minutes about projects in which we were engaged. I spoke about the Bayonnais Peanut Butter Project, opening with an invitation for everyone to shake it to the “Peanut Butter Jelly Time” song.
The Bayonnais Peanut Butter Project, for those unfamiliar with it, was inspired by Project Peanut Butter’s work in Africa. When I learned that it is common not to eat a day out of the week in Bayonnais, that day likely to multiply during the dry season, peanut butter came to mind as a protein-rich foodstuff that is readily available, long-lasting, tasty, and fulfilling. (Even in the US peanut butter is the best item to bring to a food drive; it’s nutritious, kid’s love it, and its lipid base repels spoiling bacteria.) Peanuts are grown in Bayonnais and are available throughout the year, though prices may fluctuate as much as 100% depending on the season. Other ingredients, namely salt, sugar, and cinnamon, are relatively inexpensive and easy to find.
Thus, all we needed to start the project was some start-up funding (IOH Methodist Church, SCDS, and private), a mechanical grinder (approx. $500), and a well-respected, locally-hired project director to manage production, distribution, and nutritional education. Finding the grinder was the first obstacle, but eventually we purchased one in Port-au-Prince. At this point, I had communicated my concerns to OFCB: choosing the right project manager was critical, and I needed to know, for fundraising purposes, at what price we would subsidize the peanut butter; at what price would locals, who do not yet understand the importance of protein, buy it?
There are cultural factors in our village as well, including the simple fact that people aren’t used to buying peanut butter, even though it is a product with which they are familiar. Moreover, take someone living on the borderline of spirit-crushing poverty who has “x” amount of dollars: $x will get them this much starch (sorgham or corn, for example), or $x will get them this much peanut butter. It’s highly likely the starch, greater in quantity, will trump the protein, a common problem in many poor countries.
At this point I stepped back, acknowledging that I was too involved, that if the project had any chance of lasting success, the Haitians would have to have ownership of it. In January, while I was busily completing premedical coursework in Savannah, GA, the Bayonnais Peanut Butter Project gained steam. I returned last week to find a widely popular and well-managed project run out of one half of a small room next to the bank. There are five different volumes sold at prices ranging from roughly $1 to $5, the largest represented a former 32-ounce wide-lid mayonnaise jar. As far as demographics are concerned, students and professors comprise the greatest number of buyers, followed by various adults buying for themselves and family; some send jars all the way to Port-au-Prince! The manager says some days no one may come in, but other days as many as 8 people may visit, buying as many as 4 volumes each. I can’t explain my excitement at learning that students are regularly eating it in the morning before school! One of my greater hopes was realized in hearing one girl say it improves her attention span in the classroom. Professors will take some with bread if they don’t get a chance to eat lunch. Others have moved up to the peanut butter and banana sandwich; wait till we introduce bee-keeping and honey! Approximately 374 containers have been distributed since January.
Unfortunately, I have to taint all of this wonderful news with one unknown. After starting the project, I learned about a nasty little bugger named aphlatoxin. It is a mycobacterium that may contaminate many staples, including peanuts, especially when they are not properly sorted and stored. Though substantial research regarding its affects on humans is lacking, there is ample information to validate its harmful toxicity, which may compromise immunity and nutrition as well as contributing to liver cancer. Of course, this would be completely counterproductive, especially to big-bellied, red-haired children who are already protein-deficiently one step behind. Nonetheless, aphlatoxin is in the peanut butter we eat here in the US; there’s no getting around it. The question is, “How much?” Various international standards greatly minimize exposure, so don’t go boycotting the PB@J! I’ve spoken with several organizations, including Meds and Food for Kids and Partners in Health, who have informed me of effective preventative techniques and testing procedures. (I’ve shared preventative farming techniques with a local agronomist in Bayonnais.) I look forward to testing the aphlatoxin content of our peanut butter when I return in July.
Back to the good news: we successfully brought a peanut-shelling kit, engineered by the Full Belly Project, to Bayonnais. The fiberglass mold and metal parts provided are enough to make several of these cement machines. Once OFCB identifies a metalsmith who can replicate the needed parts, a small business may begin. Only a few organizations in the country have such molds, and most–if not all–are not using them for microenterprise. Thus, we have a huge market to which to cater with a relatively small and inexpensive product. Moreover, if made properly, the machine serves as the first round of sorting for aphlatoxin-contaminated peanuts, for they fall through unshelled due to their moisture content. Also, because it hurts one’s fingers to shell peanuts for a long time, it is not uncommon for people to moisten the peanuts so as to minimize the wear and tear on their hands; moisture in a Carribean climate, however, is a welcome mat for aphlatoxin. Therefore, the FBP peanut sheller is a two-fold blow to this malicious mycobacterium.
Should OFCB successfully implement a peanut sheller business, profits may substantially support the Bayonnais Peanut Butter Project, which depends upon financial assistance due to its inherent subsidies. Currently, BPBP at least leans in the direction of sustainability; we’re not giving out peanut butter for free. In a country where many tons of food aid rotted in national ports, it’s also worth noting the significance of a system in which foreign dollars translate directly into on-the-ground, locally-produced nutritious food. Currently, the project account holds $530. I’m going to try my best to fit fundraising in somewhere between my sister’s wedding, Organic Chemistry II, the MCAT, and medical school applications this summer. If you or anyone else may be interested in assisting, please let me know. Also, stay tuned for whenever Google announces the top 100 projects of their 10 to the 100th Competition; I submitted a nationally-scaled proposal.
Libone manages sales and distribution of the peanut butter, which is shown in various containers to his right. The transparent wall affords a quick visual inventory. The peanut butter you see here is what remains of the fourth round of production. When they make more, the table will be covered with jars.
1 Comment
June 2, 2009 at 1:35 am
That is absolutely wonderful! God will make a way.