Soy has been a part of the food assistance programs in the state of Jalisco, Mexico for 20 years. Jalisco government school lunch programs are one of the most importance consumers of texturized soy protein (TSP) and other soy products in the entire country.
Dra. Martha Vazquez Gonzalez, Feeding Director of DIF Jalisco, has been handling the school lunch programs there for the past 12 years. DIF Jalisco, as Dra. Vazquez explained to me, is integral development of the family system in Mexico. Once or twice each week, pre-school and primary school children will have a hot soy meal prepared in a typical Mexican cuisine. The objective of the programs she directs is to aid youth in recovering from malnutrition by including soy in their diets.
“Kids love it,” Vazquez said.
Acceptance grows and betters through education, demonstrations, having people participate and taste soy-foods. Mothers play an important role in introducing soy to their families. There is no food service program as there is in the U.S. Foods are sent to the school where teams of 5 mothers take turns coming in to cook the meals for the schoolchildren. Dra. Vazquez said the mothers will copy the recipes and take them home and prepare them for their entire families. Soy foods are readily available in the stores in Mexico, so finding the TSP and other ingredients is not difficult.
“By training one mother,” said Vazquez, “I am actually training many more.”
Vazquez would like to increase the amount of soy offered in the school lunch programs.
Dra. Vazquez works closely with the United States Soybean staff in Mexico. She relies on them for information and educational materials.
When asked what she would like to say to U.S. soybean farmers, she told me, “Thank you. That’s the best word that I can think of. Thanks because of all that comes to us, we are able to share it with so many people. I have close to 45,000 mothers learning about soy in Jalisco. I am in 5,000 schools. . . We have thousands and thousands of people working with soy in the community.”
Participants in the 2010 USB See for Yourself Program had the opportunity to taste several soy dishes prepared for us that are prepared and served in the school lunch programs. The food smelled great and those who tasted it said it was “wonderful.”
AUDIO: Dra. Martha Vazquez Gonzalez
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