food processing (photo album)

Food processing is one of our activities in the communities we work in. People in Malawi are very dependent on maize, so much so that if they have no maize they think they have nothing to eat. So we try to introduce different types of food, or rather, show them what local resources they have available to them and how they can cook them so they can eat healthy balanced meals without being totally dependent on nsima. We even show them how they can make a better tasting nsima made from maize, cassava, and sweet potato. It requires less maize, utilizes other available crops, is more nutritious, and tastes great. We also cook with green papaya or green bananas and other vegetables to make delicious one-pot dishes and people tell us after tasting it, "we've just been wasting our papayas all this time." We also introduce the fuel efficient stove (uses less firewood, produces less harmful smoke, etc.) and the fireless cooker/food warmer: just boil your rice or beans for a few minutes, put it in the fireless cooker, and it will finish cooking on its own. The food warmer keeps food warm for up to 8 hours, which is very convenient when you're busy working in the fields, or so chronically ill patients can help themselves to food even when no one is around to cook. In all, these demonstrations are very successful and people are just amazed at what they can do with what they have. 53 photos in this album.