La Opción Saludable (The Healthy Choice)-Julie Swanger

La Opción Saludable

Peru is a country struggling with nutrition due to current situations and past events.  In the past crops were modified to grow in Peru's culture that are still being harvested today, but in a very limited category, all grains.  In present day a majority of Peru is uneducated, leaving families very clueless about what they should be eating each and every day.  La Opción Saludable (The Healthy Choice) is a campaign that has been launched to help review these demographical issues and provide the help and support needed to decrease the rates of malnutrition in Peru

Peru is a land with immense beauty, various demographic locations, rich traditions, and low nutritional resources.  Due to the ranging landscape in Peru it makes it very difficult for agricultural variation and growth.  Centuries ago, when the Incas ruled all of Peru they lived mainly in the Andes Mountain region of Peru, although difficult it was the only terrain in Peru that allowed for agriculture and being in the mountains provided them secrecy and protection from invasion, they were able to spot the enemy long before the enemy could see them.  In order to farm on the cliffs of the mountains the Incan's built terraces that ran down the sides of their mountain residences (Natural).  This caused several problems because they were trying to grow crops at several different altitudes and temperatures.  They developed the structure of Moray which is located in a mountainous valley and continues 100 feet into the earth in concave terraces of circles.  Each terrace represented a different climate temperate layer.  Here is where the Ancient Incan's created and mixed over 3,000 types of potatoes and 150 breeds of corn that would flourish in all different altitudes surrounding the Andes Mountains (Koster). 

Moray agricultural zone- Peru

Although at the time producing these agricultural staples of rice, potatoes, and corn was sufficient, modern day diets in Peru are now very restricted.  Still to this day, in the mountains of Peru, these staples are grown in abundance.  Sugar cane also flourishes in Peru, making it a top staple as well (FAOSTAT).  These are the most commonly seen products in the streets and markets of Peru, causing a large nutritional unbalance, which aids the next nutritional issue of education.

Chart from FAOSTAT

Education is not very structured in Peru, although it is free for children 7-16 years of age it is not required, in fact only 10.1% of the population in Peru is literate (Peru Education).  Instead of sending their kids to school parents use them to help do other tasks.  This results in a large amount of uneducated people in several topics, including nutrition.  When working with mothers in Peru I learned that 9 out of 10 mothers did not know what the five food groups were and had no idea that these items should be eaten everyday.  The most common misperceptions were that eggs were dairy products, rice was a protein, and that fruit was treated like a dessert in the United States, a treat for once a week or so. Because things like fruit, weren't as inexpensive or abundant at the markets they just assumed that they weren't as important to consume and instead focused on potatoes and rice, because as stated earlier they are the most available.  It is very important to educate these women that there are five food groups to eat everyday, and that grains, which they consume the most, aren't necessarily meant to be consumed the most.  In order to educate the women about nutrition a campaign was launched while I was in Peru that is being continued while in the states.  The five food groups were diagrammed on a plate drawn onto a large poster, after explaining the food groups to the women they would then receive food cards of typical Peruvian cuisine and had to place them in their proper locations.  This is to help educate the women about how to serve a well rounded meal to their family, and more materials are being created.

Peru has several nutritional issues, mainly due to their lack of education and limited resources but through La Opción Saludablbe (The Healthy Choice) campaign women and families in Peru will become more educated and able to support themselves.

References

Koster, J. (n.d.). Moray: First Agricultural Experiment Station?. Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association . Retrieved September 16, 2013, from http://www.mofga.org/Publications/MaineOrganicFarmerGardener/Spring2012/Moray/tabid/2137/Default.aspx

Peru. (n.d.). FASOSTAT. Retrieved September 16, 2013, from faostat3.fao.org/faostat-gateway/go/to/home/E

Peru Education , Education in Peru. (n.d.).Maps of the World. Retrieved September 18, 2013, from http://www.mapsofworld.com/peru/education/