Group fights malnutrition one ‘mingo’ meal at a time

SNACK BREAK Children in an evacuation center in Marawi City, where government troops engaged Islamic State-linked armed groups in a five-month battle in 2017, enjoy their instant meals made from rice and vegetables. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines — At least 10 million packs of instant food made from a mixture of rice, mung beans (“monggo”) and moringa (“malunggay”) are expected to be produced and distributed by a nongovernment group in Negros Occidental by January next year to ease malnutrition among children in the country.

The Negrense Volunteers for Change (NVC) launched last week the campaign to produce more “mingo” meals for children age six months to 5 years. Mingo meals come in powder form that can be consumed once mixed with water.

Dr. Mario Capanzana, Food and Nutrition Research Institute director of the Department of Science and Technology, said mingo meals had been clinically tested and proven to effectively address malnutrition and stunted growth.

Capanzana said three out of 10 children in the country suffered from stunted growth and malnutrition due to lack of adequate nutrition at an early age.

Target

NVC, as of June 12, had raised donations for 8,329,413 mingo meals distributed to undernourished children in 37 provinces. The NVC also received $24,000 (P1.24 million) from Balsam Brands of Redwood, California, which would provide 96,000 more meals.

Millie Kilayko, NVC president, said the group was short of 1,558,295 meals to hit its 10 million target by January 2020.

Mingo meals, she said, bring down the malnutrition rate by at least 80 percent in communities where these are distributed.

For those interested in helping NVC’s campaign, log on to www.nvcfoundation-ph.org/10mmm or call 034-434-5568