Louise Hagler conducts a nutrition education class for women in the Mayan village of Peña Blanca (photo by Guillermo Alvarado)

Rural indigenous communities in Guatemala, and throughout Central America and Mexico, have growing populations and limited land based resources to provide for their own basic needs. In Guatemala undernourishment among youth, mothers with babies and the elderly has increased over the past few years in part due to diminished family income and local food supplies, both caused by serious droughts experienced during the past three years. Supplies of dairy milk foods affordable to low income families are extremely limited, and studies conducted by UN and Pan American health professionals reveal that up to 70% of the population in Guatemala is allergic to lactose products. Family use of high nutrient traditional corns, amaranth and vegetables has diminished as rural and urban populations have been flooded with advertising and given incentives to purchase highly processed foods with significantly diminished nutrition value and imported seeds that can not be reproduced.

The goal of the VMFNP program is to improve family nutrition intake, and community food security, by encouraging production and increased use of soybeans and other locally available high nutrient foods. Plenty International representatives have been working with staff at Asociacion Desarollo Integral de Molino Belen (ADIBE) to conduct soy and related food processing education classes, presentations and workshops with rural families living in the District of Solola. Program staff will demonstrate methods of preparing and including the use of soy foods within traditional recipes and meals using tools and utensils that are common to rural families. Agriculture specialists will help farmers learn, in groups and individually, appropriate methods of growing and including production of soybeans within family farming practices. In addition, food processing and nutrition promoters will present and distribute printed information that will help participants improve their understanding of the nutrition needs of their families and how those needs can be met with locally available high nutrient, low cost foods.