WWJV? (What would Juan Valdez think?)

Want to jack your kids up even more? According to a story I just spied in Australia's Daily Telegraph, coffee may soon replace Tang and CapriSun as the drink of choice amongst Mexican toddlers.

American company Voyava Republic and coffee cooperative La Selva (a popular Mexican coffee producer) are reportedly partnering to help improve the nutrition of children in southern Mexico with...coffee!

I give Starbucks exactly 3.4 minutes before they are all over this like foam on cappucino.

Here's the thinking: The coffee which will be sipped by the malnourished kids is fortified with folic acid (good for little growing bodies), iron and other nutrients. Hmmm. Because bananas would be too kid-like? (In full disclosure, I have no real knowledge of the food items readily and cheaply available in Southern Mexico, but it would seem like folic acid-rich foods, like nanners, oranges, peas, or enriched flour/cereal shouldn't be terribly hard to find?)

Anyhow, the caffeinated brainstormers are figuring that since the kids they are targeting in Chiapas' coffee-growing community already throw back at least one (if not several) cups o' joe daily, why not fortify it. I kind of get this mentality, but isn't it sort of like adding vitamins and minerals to Diet Coke (as was recently done). Why not encourage healthy eating rather than fortify junk food? Not that java is junk food, but the stimulating, addicting drink is likely not high on the list of "beverages I want my baby to drink." I mean, I can just see the American ad campaign now - the Starbucks mermaid breastfeeding a little baby with a biscotti in one little hand and a cigarette in the other.

The article cites a quote from a North Carolina nutritionist, Tom Donofrio, who admits to being skeptical about the program, especially because it's coffee (versus, say, a whole food like milk) being nutritionally enhanced. But, he conceded, it could be better than nothing.

This I agree with. When we're talkng about sick or starving kids, I wholly support providing vitamins and other essential elements any way possible. If there were a country where the only food locally grown and available was, say, chocolate frosting (and let me just say - dear God, I hope there is such a place) and that frosting was a staple of kids' diets, I'd be up for a calcium supplementation program or mixing the frosting with protein powder. I actually just Googled Chiapas and learned that the state suffers from the highest rate of malnutrition in Mexico, estimated to affect over 40% of the population. So yes, anything that can be done to help growing kids is a move in the right direction. I think this article/concept just caught my eye because here in the US, where coffee shops are on every corner and kids can have their moms order them a "Tall hot chocolate" to go with their organic milk box, it seems more than a tad absurd, like Angelina Jolie's daughter carrrying a matching Fendi bag.

I'm off to a coffee shop (no joke) to write for the day. Will check in to see what thoughts you've posted!
Leslie

Comments

what happened to water? could they not somehow fortify the water. I hate to think of kids drinking coffee.
yeah the bag zahara had what a joke!!!!! apparently cost approx $1,500. I remember thinking angelina sholud put her money where her mouth is and donate that stupid bag to charity even if she did not buy it

And in a related story, the Mexican babysitters' union has called a strike that will last indefinitely.

Babycinos are all the trend in Oz as well - basically just the warm, foamy milk without the coffee.

Ha! That's funny, Despina.

Wait - I just now am understanding the phrase "babycino," MR - like a cappucino for a baby? OMG, I am in love. That's my new favorite word besides Catkins (see new post on pudgy pets). Thanks for the tip!

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