Mission: Nutrition

Mondays tech session was the most delicious one yet. We talked about nutrition causeries and ways to teach people about healthy eating. In Senegal instead of the food guide pyramid we use the phrase "Grow, Glow and Go."

Go foods are the carbohydrate rich foods that provide energy. In Senegal the main sources of "go" are rice, bread and millet.

Grow foods are proteins that enhance growth and development. There isn't much meat to be had here, but fish is a staple ingredient in almost every meal (seriously, people even put dried fish in peanut sauce). Other great sources of protein are peanuts which are a principle crop in my village and beans which are pretty widely available. Dairy products like milk and yogurt also fall into this category.

Glow foods are things like fruits and vegetables that provide essential nutrients and keep people healthy. These are the toughest things to get people to eat in this country...vegetables are considered a decoration for the food bowl and its not uncommon to split one carrot between 8 people. Still there is a decent variety of veges available here if you want them, everything from carrots and eggplant to green peppers and bitter tomato.


As a part of teaching nutrition we also learned a few tasty recipes. I know doughnuts don't sound like health food, but if you make them with Moringa leaves they can be! Moringa is a type of tree that grows in Senegal. In Seereer it is called Nebedaye, which is a butchered form of "never die." They are really easy to grow and the leaves are packed full of nutrients, vitamins and minerals.

Moringa Beignets (doughnuts)


Step 1:
Mix moringa leaf powder, sugar, eggs, baking soda, baking powder, millet flour and oil into a dough

Step 2:
Roll the dough into balls

Step 3:
Fry in vegetable oil

Step 4:
Enjoy!
We also talked about child specific nutrition and different type of porridge people can make to supplement a child's diet. Most of them are made with millet, which is considered another "super food" because of its high nutritional value. If you recognize that name its probably because you feed it to your parakeet. It does have a really "good for you" taste, but with a little peanut butter and bananas it makes a delicious, protein rich meal.