Here is a bad situation that was only made worse by International hype. You are an owner of a dog food company in New Zealand. You are sympathetic to the plight of starving children in Kenya. You've ALREADY donated a sizable amount of straight, perfectly-edible-for-humans corn, but you want to help more using your known assets. So you work with your company to make a powdered food meant for PEOPLE TO EAT. You eat it. You know personally that it tastes pretty good, and is a low cost healthy supplement for under-nourished humans that your company is well set to produce lots of. You offer it. You are accused of feeding dog food to starving children by the international community and it condemns your entire god damned country.
That's bull shit. The woman is trying with all her heart to help. You know what? I'm PERSONALLY not going to stand for it. I wrote the following letter to the folks at Mighty Mix Dog Food in New Zealand. If I hear back from them, you can expect me to follow up on this.
To whom it may concern,
My name is Jeremy Kayes. I am a writer of a small-audience web log in the United States. I read on BBC about the Kenya food supplement plan, and I would like to help.
The story, as I understand it, is that your company used your knowledge of health and production to make a food supplement meant for humans, and then you were subsequently accused of offering dog food to starving children. I also read that you insist your product is healthy, good tasting, and meant for people.
I would like to help by purchasing some of your supplement so that my friends and I can - boldly and without fear - try it ourselves, with the chance of possibly enjoying it. I think what you are doing is a very noble effort that is getting a terrible rep from the international community. I would like to help make a big deal about how what you are producing IS for people to eat, and (if you're honest at least!) does in fact taste pretty good.
Please let me know if this is something you would appreciate. I will be awaiting your reply.
Kids are DYING and adults can't swollow their pride and accept help. Fine. You don't want to feed them dog food? How about feeding them a snack enjoyed by Americans that JUST SO HAPPENED to be made by a dog food company?
My god, I'm helping feed starving kids by eating something myself. Only an American could think of this.