Blog Post 2

 

  1. Cultural issues have an important influence on our malnutrition project in Sierra Leone. Malnutrition is a huge problem in Sierra Leone but there are many cultural practices that are unique to Sierra Leone that will put limits and boundaries on our project. There are many cultural taboos surrounding food. We need to make sure we are using ingredients that are acceptable for children to eat, because just telling them that they should eat our muffin because it is healthy is not compelling enough. Additionally, we need to make sure that our product is not a burden to any of their resources. For example, if we need to cook the sweet potato muffin in a gas oven, we have to make sure that we aren’t taking gas away from heating their home or other things that they would need gas for. Additionally, we are going to be using sweet potato as the main base for our muffin and are going to want to grow more sweet potatoes in Sierra Leone. It is important that the extra sweet potatoes are not displacing other crops because they are taking up too much space. A third cultural issue to keep in mind is maternal approval. There is a huge cultural maternal hierarchy in Sierra Leone. It is important for mothers and grandmothers to approve of anything that goes on in Sierra Leone, so we need to get them on board with our muffin for their children
  2. I am participating in a Health Equity Internship at the Hispanic Center Lehigh Valley right now, working with the Food Pantry. The clientele, and South Bethlehem in general, is mostly Hispanic, so HCLV has to make sure that they are not providing anything that goes against their culture. For example, the HCLV tried to give seniors quinoa instead of white rice because it is healthier, but quinoa is not popular in the Hispanic culture, so it was not accepted. Additionally, I have noticed that gentrification is disturbing South Bethlehem. The city has put in new, expensive restaurants but these are disrupting the South Bethlehem community because residents are not able to afford the restaurants. Also, these restaurants are putting smaller, local businesses out of business and residents are losing their jobs. Third, although maternal approval is not as important here as it is in Sierra Leone, anything that is being given to children does need to be parentally approved otherwise it won’t be useful and practical.
  3. Sierra Leone has many cultural aspects that we can actually take advantage of for our project. Street food is a very important component to Sierra Leone and we are going to sell our muffins as street food. It is accessible and will ensure that more children will eat our muffins to improve their health. We can also take advantage of their maternal hierarchy. If we can get mothers to support our muffins, they will give them to their children. Finally, we can take advantage of their agricultural industry to grow local foods for our muffins. It will be cheaper to use ingredients that they grow themselves.
  4. The African contexts offers different challenges and resources to our venture than the American context. One challenge of the African context is that food cannot be accessed if it is out of season. For example, we need a lot of sweet potatoes and need to figure out how to preserve them so that they will be accessible even outside of the growing season. Otherwise, our muffins will not be sufficient. However, the African context also benefits our project. Sierra Leone has a very informal economy and people often take on small ventures to make money. Sierra Leonean women can sell these muffins in the market. The muffins will fit in with typical business ventures that women engage in.

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