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May 19, 2016
Elenia Amaya, ASA/WISHH Country Representative Fradbelin Escarraman and others visit the community kitchen where soy-based meals have significantly reduced malnutrition.
The American Soybean Association’s World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (ASA/WISHH) hosted Elenia Amaya on a Soy Nutrition See for Yourself trip in Guatemala this month.
Amaya works in El Salvador’s Ministry of Health and is responsible for administering social programs in the country. ASA/WISHH brought Amaya to Guatemala to visit the factory that is currently providing the Government of El Salvador with a soy-based beverage that is distributed to social program participants.
The Guatemalan company producing the soy-based beverage imports over 4,000 metric tons of U.S. soy flour per year that is used in the production of foods and beverages for government social programs, as well as in products for sale on the commercial market. During her trip, Amaya also heard presentations on the value of soy nutrition and visited a community in Guatemala where malnutrition has been reduced among children from 80 percent to 48 percent through the usage of a soy-based meal program.
Upon Amaya’s return to El Salvador, convinced of the value of soy nutrition, the Ministry of Health again placed an order for the U.S. soy-based beverage to continue to be used in the country’s social programs.
