|
Breaking News Bulletin (Cont.
from page 1)
A Canterbury woman's plan to send
powdered dog food to starving Kenyan
children has not been given the
thumbs up by Oxfam New Zealand.
A shipment of 6000 emergency packs
of dog food mixture is bound for
Rusinga Island on Kenya's Lake
Victoria as part of a relief effort
for the area's starving children.
Christine Drummond, founder of
Mighty Mix dog food, said she was
working with a Kenyan aid agency to
provide the raw ingredients for a
special nutritional food.
A shipment is due to leave Lyttelton
in March.
But the scheme has failed to get
the thumbs up from at least one
international aid agency.
Drummond said the relief food,
called NZ's Raw Dry Nourish,
used the same ingredients as
Mighty Mix dog food biscuits.
"The first plan was to send dog
biscuits and change the vitamins
then when I heard there were so
many little children I could not
send them a bicky," she said.
Instead she developed a powder
that she says just needs water
added to form a sustainable
meal.
The formula was packed with
freeze-dried meats – beef,
mutton, pork and chicken, deer
velvet, green lip mussel, kelp,
garlic, egg, whole grain cereals
and cold-pressed flax seed
flour, she said.
"I made it out of ingredients
they are used to eating, so the
main bulk product is corn."
Drummond said she was exporting
the raw ingredients to Kenya
where it would be mixed by
charity staff according to her
recipe.
Drummond was devised the mixture
after talking to North
Canterbury woman Lois McGirr
whose daughter had recently
returned from a poverty-stricken
village in Kenya. The pair had
teamed up to get the food to
Kenya.
McGirr said she was distributing
the food through the Mercy
Mission charity, based in Kenya,
and was promoting the food as a
"nutritional supplement" rather
than dog food.
"I do not think it's deceitful.
I would be happy to tell them
the full story but as long as
the doctors she (Drummond) has
been working with have been
okaying it, I don't think it's
an issue. It's not just a dog
food."
The Press tried to contact the
Mercy Mission through a number
on its website, but calls were
met by a recorded message.
Mighty Mix dog food agent Gaynor
Siviter said that if the dog
food mixture helped the Kenyan
children as it helped dogs, it
would be "marvelous".
"The dogs thrive on it. They
have energy, put on weight. It's
bizarre but if it's edible and
it works for these people then
it's a brilliant idea. It beats
eating rice."
Oxfam New Zealand executive
director Barry Coates said he
had not heard of the scheme but
it was unlikely to achieve the
desired outcome.
"I think it is much better to
get food supplies from within
Kenya rather than sending it
around the world.
"Sending food shipments from New
Zealand to Kenya does not seem
to be the best use of time and
effort and the fact it's coming
from a dog food manufacturer
could make people suspicious."
Drought, crop failures and
massive food shortages in parts
of the east African country have
left millions of people without
access to adequate food
supplies.
Oxfam International estimates
the number of people at risk is
between 2.5 million and 3.5
million.
Original Story
Doctor Response
Kenya Dog Food Issue Controversy
-
Dr. W. John Martin
|
