Do her children eat dog food?
Folks, I am just blown away. I wonder if she would mix up a batch in her kitchen and put it on her china and set it in front of her own children. Dog food destined for starving children
30 January 2006
By JO MCKENZIE-MCLEAN
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 "marvellous".
"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.
Meanwhile, I'm at the bank yesterday, and when i was leaving there was a grinding noise in my tire, i thought i had curbed the tire, but that wasn't the case, a piece of metal fell out of the right front tire, I was able to get the car across the street to a tire place (with a nasty grinding noise the whole while) and they basically told me that the brake fell out of the tire.
?!?!
so anyway....i wound up having to have the car towed, and incurring a 475 buck bill that i have no idea how im going to pay. this was just NOT in my "things that have to be paid this month" budget....
:(
I think she was probably being naive.
Posted by
Q.N.I.T.Y |
1:34 AM EST
sorry to hear about that tire ... that article is sad
Posted by
Clay |
2:27 PM EST
ok i know this wont appeal to most people but,
one of my closest friends is a vet and within all animal food lies these components.
calcium
nitrate
iron
zinc
vit c
vit d
vit e
vit a
in one food is all the vitamins you need for growing bones and lives. End of the day because its dog food, cat food its come from the same sources we eat from. No its not a rump steak but yes it is food. As someone that has eaten that stuff just to survive it can be done and if you are hungry enough it will be done. Im not saying they should eat it and i think its last resort but equally if its all you can afford or al youve got its all you can do.
Sorry i do expect slagging from this post and thats ok also.
Posted by
jumpinginpuddles |
4:05 AM EST
This reminds me of Barbara Bush's crack about the Katrina victims, you know, the one 'that they didn't have much to begin with so this is working quite nicely for them.'
How nice is must be to feel so superior.
Posted by
Peggasus |
1:33 PM EST
q.n.t, you're probably right, her intentions are probably well meant, nevermind that my mother used to say "the road to hell is paved with good intentions", lol
Clay I found it sad as well.
puddles, I agree with you in a sense, that it probably does have nutrients that you can eat, just curious is we should eat them. with all the waste that we have in the us and elsewhere, i cant figure out why we cant do better?
peg, my point exactly
Posted by
chase |
3:36 PM EST
Her intentions seem to be good, but seem wrong ethically. Instead of criticizing her, the aid agencies should suggest an alternative.
Sorry to hear about the tire, it's not a nice feeling to hear or feel your tire punctured.
Posted by
Unknown |
11:40 PM EST
somehow the logic seems a bit squed to me, i know pigs have the same digistive systems (or similar as human) but i don't know about dogs. And anyway, don't you have to be careful feeding children who are suffering from malnutrition, you can't just feed them any old thing. She seems to have the resources, perhaps she could come up with a formula better suited to children suffering from malnutrition. Oh these excentric English...
tell me about the car nonscence, i'm on "shank's pony" until i can get my car fixed so that it will pass air-care!! oh well,
yes, i realize you must be very busy so look forward to your e-mails when you have time. Hope you can get your car fixed soon.
Cheers for now,
pj
Posted by
dragonflyfilly |
2:45 AM EST
Oh gosh... this nearly made me cry...
what on earth was she thinking?
btw: i love you blog! its a lovely read!
:)Astrorat
Posted by
Astrorat |
10:36 AM EST
Booya! I like the way you put relevant pictures on your blog to... illicit an emotional response... ^^ =P
Anyway, I think that her sending those dog biscuits at first was quite... odd. But I think that coming up with a recipe for powdered food mix made up for it. It shows that she's sincere at least.
Wow... your breaks actually fell out of your wheel?!!! That's so dangerous. The thought that breaks can come off is just so scary... O_o
Posted by
Dreamy |
7:50 AM EST
Nifty....real nifty...
Makes you glow with faith for the human race, eh?
Too bad about your wheel. O_o At least you didn't get hurt.
JV
Posted by
Mr. Death |
11:28 AM EST
Umm, perhaps you can elaborate on what you've done to help starving children in Kenya?
She has a dog food factory. She came up with a recipe based on what she had available, which she believed would be helpful.
Also, comments like "I wonder if she would mix up a batch in her kitchen and put it on her china" show a remarkably poor understanding of New Zealand culture.
Posted by
Anonymous |
10:58 AM EST
Hey Stunner, I did feel that it was apoor use of recources, I think the thought of feeding children dog food, when we have so much excess of food available....
dragon, true
Deb & Astro, my initial thoughts exactly
dreamy, booyaa, thats how i felt about the brakes, lol
jv, yeah i was happy it didnt happen while i was doing 60 on the freeway...i dont know what would have happened, but er, it probably wouldnt have been pretty
anono - it's funny how people who sign anonymously always have to be a smart ass. I'm lucky to be able to feed my family every month without having to depend on assistance. When i have money to spare I do help people. do you?
I never said her intentions weren't good, only misguided, and yes, I am curious as to whether she would feed this to her children or if its only good for the african children?
I really dont see where new zealand culture fits in to this, do they eat dog food? do they not use china? do they not have kitchens? your point was lost on me.
Posted by
chase |
5:14 PM EST
syz, i agree to a point, joe made the exact same poin to me today when we talked about it....he said whatever works....i still think that we have so much excess in this country alone, no one should go hungry or have to eat dog food, or pb n j for a month...i've gone thru (and still sometimes do) my fair share of raman noodles, lol
Posted by
chase |
2:38 AM EST
IT happened to Eric, and he skidded off the road and landed in a Speet Limit sign...(not literally) killed his hotrod car, but he was alright.
Good to find out these things before hand...
Love,
JV
Posted by
Mr. Death |
11:58 AM EST
Best regards from NY!
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Posted by
Anonymous |
2:48 AM EDT