Protein of the Future?

Photo: fao.org

Nawaya's was locally sponsored to attend an international conference hosted by Wageningen (pronounced "Va-khe-nin-gen) University and the FAO, whose focus was on the potential of farming insects for human food, as well as for animal feed. Attending this international event with over 450 participants was an inspiring event, presenting insects as a healthy and easily farmed protein source. The main interest was to better understand how Nawaya's Fayoumi (Bigawy) slow-growing chicken could be more cost-efficiently grown with a local feed source that could be implemented by small scale farmers. Interestingly, insects can be raised on food scraps and waste that aren't suitable for composting, making a highly attractive conversion rate, turning one creature's garbage into another creature's high-quality feed. What's more, chicken are genetically programed to eat insects, their development requires the intake of amino acids like methionine and lysine, naturally present in insects but chemically added in commercial chicken feed. To top it off, the ecological argument is that in such a small space with such little resources, protein can be farmed, and replace traditional soybean meal* that requires large amounts of land, water and resources -- better fit for human consumption, not for chicken!

Photo:wageningenur.nl

Insects in many countries have been traditionally eaten and collected, or for example in the Arab peninsula eaten during seasonal infestations. Insect consumption does however have a big "ew" factor, let alone that many people do not associate insects as healthy source of food. At the conference presenters tackled the consumer preferences, looking at everything from festivals, high end restaurants and chefs, just as importantly as research on infant growth and food industries exploring how insect protein also act as flavor enhancers. This idea is looking at the insects industry from a "bottom-up" approach, as cheap protein - then from a "top-down" as a new food fashion, that takes ground fast like Sushi restaurants. Farming insects will be accepted over time, and could be the future for cheaper more ecologically produced proteins, however it was constantly reminded that this industry is not the silver bullet that will save a 9 billion world from starvation. It is rather a new sector full of potential, and full of research needs - indeed the conference created a platform for many new partnerships and collaborations to take place. Nawaya will build on these to seek out its own path in Egypt to experiment with insects for chicken feed, hoping to find a silver bullet for indigenous poultry breeds to be competitive in the market, and in the long term to offer a healthy feed alternative that is locally produced.

by Laura Tabet

*Soybean meal is a solid by-product flour made from leftovers after grinding the soybean to extract soybean oil. It is used as a source of protein in animal feed, including chicken, cattle, horse, pig, sheep, and fish feed (adapted from wikipidia).

Mucaja do Brazil

Terra Madre in Torino, Italy (2014) a snapshot from The Voices of Indigenous Peoples Workshops

For 50 years and for as long as he remembers, Mr. Pingao Osbalda (second left) used to make "Ningawre Mucaja" and sell it from a cart as street food. Mucaja is a round and firm fruit that falls from palm-like trees in Brasil from October to  December. Osbalda collects the fruits that fall, crushing and grinding them in a large wooden mortar along with a live (yes, live!!) small, local crab caught fresh and, Voila: the "juice" that results is then strained, cooked and thickened into a sort of pudding: "Ningawre Mucaja," sold only in season as a snack or meal. 

Mr. Osbalda explains that he was soon going to stop because it is physically tiring to make Ningawre Mucaja, but then he decided to teach it to his children, encouraged by the Slow Food members who are doing research on Mucaja fruits and exactly this type of traditional food culture. Such traditional foods, once re-valorized can now be kept alive thanks to this family's dedication. One of many such stories told at Terra Madre this year.

A “Spanish fusion” restaurant in Zamalek

This review of a restaurant in Zamalek, "Jambalaya, a new 'Spanish fusion' restaurant in Zamalek", appeared in the Amcham Business Monthly magazine (March issue):

http://www.amcham.org.eg/resources_publications/publications/business_monthly/issue.asp?sec=8&im=3&iy=2014


"The signature Louisiana Creole dish, a rice-based concoction that mingles French, Spanish and Caribbean influences with hot peppers, sweet onions, shrimp and other staples of the American South, is a close cousin of paella, the Valencian specialty. That’s the idea, I suppose, that Jambalaya is a melding of cuisines and cultures. But with dishes like Pure de Garbanzos con Chorizo (hummus with spicy sausages, LE 28) and the Hamburguesa de Paella (a “Paella Burger” of chicken, chorizo and shrimp, LE 65), Jambalaya takes traditional dishes from southern Europe and North America well outside of their comfort zones.
..

Rejuvenated, and thirsty, I requested a Fresca Limonada (LE 16) as well as a glass of non-alcoholic Sangria (LE 18). If there is one thing Egypt always gets right, it’s juice. The Limonada, a strawberry lemonade, was neither too sweet nor too tart. The Sangria was a little less exciting, but then again, grape juice is not really a substitute for wine, which is traditionally the main ingredient of sangria. Jambalaya had also added a substantial amount of spice, the most prominent being cinnamon, which gave this summer drink a discordant, Christmas-ey flavor, like mulled wine. It wasn’t bad—it just wasn’t really sangria."

"Slow" Iftar at Abusir in Egypt

In the village of Abusir, near Sakkara, Egypt, organic products, some of which are present on the Ark of Taste (Slow Food Foundation), like chicken Begawi, were prepared for an Iftar gathering to break the Ramadan fast. Slow food members led by Sara El Sayed, Slow Food International Counselor for Egypt, and the Nawaya organization organized the Iftar.

As reported on the Slow Food Foundation page:
"The dishes were cooked by four chefs: a mix of city chefs, with modern interpretations of traditional dishes, and women of the village, keepers of the traditional recipes of the dishes. The event, which was attended by over 140 people, gave rise to a menu rich in fruits and vegetables, including couscous with fried chicken breast and grilled vegetables with apricot juice, alternating between the sweet and savory tastes typical of these meals."

Read more here: http://www.slowfoodfoundation.com/pagine/eng/news/dettaglio_news.lasso?-idn=304#.U_LfQiiFgrw

في قرية أبوصير، بالقرب من سقارة في مصر،
تم إعداد المنتجات العضوية لحفل إفطار لكسر صيام رمضان
مع"سفينة الطعم" (مؤسسة الغذاء بطيئ Slow Food)،
مثل الدجاج  البيجاوي.

أعضاء Slow Food
بقيادة سارة السيد، المستشار الدولي لمصر،
نظمت منظمة Nawaya الافطار،
  الذي حضره أكثر من 140 شخص.

كما ورد على الصفحة مؤسسة الغذاء البطيء:
"تم طهي أطباق أربعة شيفات: مزيج من شيفات المدينة، مع تنوع حديث في الأطباق التقليدية، ونساء القرية، حافظات  للوصفات التقليدية من الأطباق.

على قائمة الأغذية في الفواكه والخضروات، بما في ذلك
الكسكس مع صدور الدجاج المقلي والخضار المشوي مع عصير المشمش،
بالتناوب بين الأذواق الحلو والمالح في هذه الوجبات ".

  اقرأ المزيد هنا:

http://www.slowfoodfoundation.com/pagine/eng/news/dettaglio_news.lasso?-idn=304#.U_LfQiiFgrw

Healthy Living and Farmer's Market in Kattameya

It seems that Healthy produce is gaining popularity!! A new "Healthy Living and Farmer's Market" was recently organized at Kattameya Heights Country Club on June 4th. Our friend Menar Mebed of Minnie's Dried Fruits & Vegetables took part. 

The event was held indoors, on June 4, all day long from 11 to 7pm. Entrance was free.

يبدو أن المنتجات الصحية تكتسب شعبية!! نظمت "سوق صحيا" الجديد مؤخرا في نادى القطامية هايتس في 4 يونيو.شاركت صديقنا Menar Mebed.

وقد عقد هذا الحدث في الداخل، في 4 حزيران، من 11 إلى 19:00. وكان الدخول مجانا.

Menar's Blog: http://cut-and-dried.blogspot.com/ 

https://www.facebook.com/minnies.dried.fruits.vegetables

Eating in Season

You can depend on the natural cycles to enjoy fruits and vegetables that are picked at the peak of maturity!

• Respecting seasons means having fresh produce that is full of vitamins and having authentic, exceptional flavor all year long.
• Keeping track, respecting & following the natural sesonal variations in fruits and vegetables is a great way of ensuring variability in your diet -- of great importance to overall health.
• You would be buying the fruits and vegetables at their cheapest prices.
• You can then count on the seasonal fruit baskets that are delivered to your door with whatever is in season.
• To eat less pesticides: maintaining fruits and veggies under conditions that are NOT their natural seasonal development... makes them more fragile. To protect them, they must be sprayed with lots of pesticides and fertilizers!
• Seasons exist for fish and meat too, though to a lesser extent; for fish there are specific places and times of fishing that return every season. For example, the Salmon in Alaska is available from June-July to September. These cycles often correspond to traditional or religious periods of enjoying such foods.

Article by Roz Baladi from the book: Le guide de L'ECOfood by Alexis Botaya, Editions Minerva

23 Pupils Die in India From Pesticide "Monocrotophos"

مبيدات الآفات الشديدة الخطورة يجب التخلُّص منها تدريجياً بالبلدان النامية

مأساة التلاميذ المُسمَّمين في الهند تذكيرٌ آخر مُلِح بهذه الضرورة

31 يوليو/تموز 2013، روما   -- أكدت منظمة الأمم المتحدة للأغذية والزراعة "FAO"، اليوم أن الحادثة المأساوية في ولاية "بيهار" الهندية حيث لقي 23 تلميذاً حتفهم إثر تناول وجبة طعام مدرسية ملوثة بمبيد"monocrotophos"  تأتي بمثابة تذكير مُلِح بضرورة الإسراع بسحب مبيدات الآفات الشديدة الخطورة من أسواق البلدان النامية.
ويُعدّ مبيد "مونوكروتوفوس" مادةً عضوية الفسفور يعتبرها كِلا منظمة "فاو" ومنظمة الصحة العالمية "WHO" بالغة الخطورة. وتدلّ الخبرة السابقة في العديد من البلدان النامية على أن توزيع واستعمال مثل هذه المنتجات العالية السُميّة تشكّل خطراً شديداً في أغلب الأحيان على صحة الإنسان والبيئة.
وتستظهِر حادثة "بيهار" أن الخزن المأمون لمُنتجات مبيدات الآفات والتخلّص الآمن من حاويات المبيدات الفارغة هي إجراءات حاسمة لخفض مستويات الخطر، وعلى نفس درجة الأهمية شأنها شأن التدابير الميدانية الأكثر شيوعاً لارتداء الأقنعة والملابس الواقية.
وفي حين يُستدَل على أن حلقة التوزيع الكاملة ودورة التخلُّص من المبيدات البالغة الخطورة تنطوي على أخطارٍ لا يُستهان بها، يظهر ضمان إجراءات الوقاية في الأحوال كافة أمراً بالغ الصعوبة في بلدان كثيرة.

July 31, 2013, Rome - The United Nations Food and Agriculture "FAO", announced today that tragic incident in the state of "Bihar" Indian, where 23 pupils died after eating a school meal contaminated with pesticide "monocrotophos". The tragedy comes as a reminder of the urgent need to accelerate the withdrawal of highly hazardous pesticides from the markets of developing countries.The pesticide "monocrotophos", or organic phosphorus, is considered by both the "FOA" and the World Health Organization "WHO" extremely dangerous. Past experience indicates that in many developing countries the distribution and use of such highly toxic products pose a serious threat on human health and the environment. 
There is a consensus among international organizations, including the Organization "FAO" and the World Health Organization and the World Bank, that the products high-risk pesticides should not be made available within the reach of small farmers who lack the knowledge Pkiviat handled but lacked the spray equipment and safe means of storage proper and also protective clothing for the management of such pesticides appropriately. Therefore, teh FAO recommends that the governments of developing countries need to accelerate the withdrawal of highly hazardous pesticides from the public markets. 
Non-chemical alternativesIn the meantime, less toxic alternatives are available made of non-chemical materials to use, and in many cases methods of integrated pest management (IPM) provide adequate control of insects to reduce the need for the use of hazardous chemical pesticides. The International Code of Conduct include pesticide management, adoption of voluntary standards for application both in the case of public or private bodies involved in combating pests. As well, a blog's main international reference for the responsible management of pesticides. In the case of pesticide "Monocrotophos" in particular, a total ban option is the only effective way to prevent harm to humans and the environment. 
Note that this pesticide is banned from Australia, China, the European Union, the United States, and also from many countries Africa, Asia and Latin America. 
FAO | Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy | (+39) 06 570 5362 5 | www.fao.org