Old Dreams

Been thinking over the weekend about some of the Old Dreams I used to have, and seem to have forgotten.

One of them was to develop a nutritionally-complete, all-in-one, culturally relevant, drop-able from airplane meal to alleviate malnutrition in Africa.

Yeah, I know - BIG one. It's not as if others have not tried before, and either done OK-ish, come just a little short or failed completely. Not that their products weren't good - but have you tried rehydrating something when there's a drought and absolutely no water around? Or tried to "enjoy" a food which caters to a foreign tongue in taste or texture or appearance? Or attempted to open a can without a can-opener?

The general response to hunger in Africa is to send maize/maize-meal. Preferably GM maize that no-one else wants, or excess stuff that's cluttering up the warehouses. Yes, in most cases this is a good idea, and generally the best available is provided by aid companies, as far as they can afford it.

But it misses the nutritional point. Man shall not live on maize alone!

Where are the protiens, the vitamins, the minerals, the stuff a body needs to thrive on? You can only cram a certain amount of modification and enrichment into one product.

I'm by no means an expert, but I am a qualified Food Technologist (bet you didn't know that! :) ). I know the principles of manufacture and packaging - and I've done a lot of private research into food quality, best-possible nutrition etc. I'm years out of practice thanks to a dramatic change in career, but the knowledge is all still filed away. I know I could do this, if I but put mind and effort to it.

Perhaps it's time to dust off some of those Old Dreams and start thinking of growing them into reality. It's better to have tried and failed than not to have tried at all.