By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

COLUMBUS, Ohio — When Ohio soybean growers begin harvesting their crops this fall they’ll be taking steps to help nourish children in need: They’re part of the World Soybean Foundation’s (WSF) Acre Challenge.

Many farmers across Ohio and the United States are giving the value of an acre of soybeans to the challenge. This effort will help children thousands of miles away in developing countries.

“The World Soy Foundation makes it easy to do the right things with soybeans,” said Jeff Wuebker, Acre Challenge participant and president of the Ohio Soybean Assoc.

“The Ohio soybean grower’s crop can make a difference in the lives of children across the globe. By improving their health with our soy, we are nourishing minds as well as bodies. There is still time to give.”

According to the WSF, one in six people in the world is malnourished. Soy is an important part of the solution to global malnutrition since it offers much-needed protein and other nutrition. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reported earlier this month that world hunger is projected to reach a historic high in 2010, with 1.02 billion people going hungry every day.

Soy has long been a foundation in food aid. Corn-soy blend is one of the most common relief foods, such as formulas containing peanuts and soy protein. The soy isolates provide a nutrient-dense, cost-effective source of protein for such foods that are saving lives of severely malnourished children.

“Forty bushels of beans, the approximate national average yield, will make 18,000 rations of soy protein to children and adults in locations ranging from Africa to Latin America, to Asia,” Wuebker said.

With this effort there is a challenge to see which state receives the most donations.

“There is a competition among states with this effort,” said Jamie Butts of the Ohio Soybean Council. “We’re asking farmers in our state as well as other states to donate the value of an acre of soybeans to help feed children in countries such as Guatemala, Africa, Afghanistan, Haiti, Honduras and others.

“At this time we have just 10 donations, but the effort didn’t get started until April. We’re accepting soybean donations any time of the year and you don’t have to be a farmer to participate or donate.”

The WSF, out of St. Louis, Mo., is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that works with private voluntary and non-governmental groups to deliver soy protein and nutrition education. Projects sponsored by the WSF include complementary foods for children ages six to 36 months, school feeding programs and nutrition assessment and research services.
Contributions are tax deductible and may be made online at www.worldsoyfoundation.org