Poverty is one of the main causes of malnutrition in developing countries. Healthcare is not accessible to most of the people experiencing living in poverty. Farming is the one area that can focus their energies on growing the most nutritional food possible to bring to the local marketplaces. Knowing this, it has been a priority for our Haitian team, Planting for Hope and Future (PHF) to grow as many nutritional crops as possible. The old adage of “You are what you eat” is very true, and extremely important in Haiti where the cost of food has increased, due to the large amount of food that is imported, along with skyrocketing inflation. If every bite of food was affordable, and packed full of nutrients, this has the potential to positively impact the health of the population. March is National Nutrition Month. A good month to celebrate the efforts of the men of PHF for their. research in finding the nutritional needs of the Haitian population so they can grow the most nutritious food possible, bringing new seeds from foreign countries for experimentation. One of the seeds they have experimented with is from Africa – the Hibiscus seeds. The goal is to grow enough in order to create a very healthy tea. Once many flowers have been cut and dried, the process of marketing the tea will begin. This tea has already been positively tested by the family and friends of PHF men.
This is just the beginning. More ground crops such as black beans are being grown to help fulfill the nutritional needs. The PHF farms are now filled with papaya, mango trees and ime trees to fulfill many requirements for day to day vitamins necessary for proper diet. Future plans of growing Moringa trees and pigeon peas are in the works to plant very soon. Working to help build stronger bodies through food is the goal!