Latest news with #Plumpy'Nut
Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Business
- Boston Globe
McDonald's sales return to growth, pushed by promotions
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up NONPROFITS Advertisement Federal government restarts order for R.I.-based Edesia to ship food to children in Africa Edesia Nutrition CEO Navyn Salem walks past a delivery truck sitting idle at the company's North Kingstown, R.I., facility where they make Plumpy'Nut, a nutritional lifesaving peanut paste sent to malnourished children worldwide, on March 14. David Goldman/Associated Press After months of limbo, a backlog of 185,000 boxes of food intended for malnourished children around the globe that have been sitting in a Rhode Island warehouse following the dismantling of US Agency for International Development earlier this year will finally be on their way to Africa. Navyn Salem, CEO of the North Kingstown-based nonprofit Edesia Nutrition, wrote in an email on Wednesday that the US State Department issued a tender on Tuesday for 11,285 metric tons of Ready-to-Use-Therapeutic, or RUTF, — 'enough life-saving food for 818,000 severely malnourished children in Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mali, South Sudan, Chad, Madagascar, Niger, Sudan, Djibouti, and DRC.' The food is the first new federal government order to the nonprofit in months, and Edesia expects another order soon, Salem confirmed. Separately, Salem wrote the '185,535 boxes that have been sitting in our warehouse in RI have been assigned to Nigeria and the Central African Republic and will be on their way very soon.' 'We persevered,' Salem wrote. 'By not letting up or giving up, we held America to its ideals as a force for good in the world.' — CHRISTOPHER GAVIN Advertisement TECH Trump announces Apple investing another $100 billion in US manufacturing Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks as President Trump looks on in the Oval Office on Aug. 6. Alex Brandon/Associated Press Apple CEO Tim Cook joined President Trump at the White House on Wednesday to announce a commitment by the tech company to increase its investment in US manufacturing by an additional $100 billion over the next four years. 'This is a significant step toward the ultimate goal of ensuring that iPhones sold in the United States of America also are made in America,' Trump said at the press conference. 'Today's announcement is one of the largest commitments in what has become among the greatest investment booms in our nation's history.' As part of the Apple announcement, the investments will be about bringing more of its supply chain and advanced manufacturing to the United States as part of an initiative called the American Manufacturing Program, but it is not a full commitment to build its popular iPhone device domestically. 'This includes new and expanded work with 10 companies across America. They produce components — semiconductor chips included — that are used in Apple products sold all over the world, and we're grateful to the President for his support,' Cook said in a statement announcing the investment. The new manufacturing partners include Corning, Coherent, Applied Materials, Texas Instruments and Broadcom among others. Apple had previously said it intended to invest $500 billion domestically, a figure it will now increase to $600 billion. Trump in recent months has criticized the tech company and Cook for efforts to shift iPhone production to India to avoid the tariffs his Republican administration had planned for China. — ASSOCIATED PRESS Advertisement RETAIL Claire's, teen jewelry chain, files for bankruptcy a 2nd time People shop at a Claire's in New York in 2018. Seth Wenig/Associated Press Claire's, the jewelry chain that was once an inescapable part of life for many teens, filed for bankruptcy a second time Wednesday, joining other retailers who have struggled amid the growth of online shopping and the uncertainty set off by tariffs. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware. It said in a statement that it also planned to start insolvency proceedings in Canada that would allow it to restructure. 'This decision is difficult, but a necessary one,' said Chris Cramer, Claire's CEO, adding that the company was discussing its future with 'potential strategic partners.' He cited increased competition, consumer spending trends and the company's debt obligations. Stores in North America will remain open as the company explores alternatives, the statement said. Claire's, which is based in Hoffman Estates, Ill., operates more than 2,750 stories in 17 countries across North America and Europe, according to its website. — NEW YORK TIMES ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Advertisement OpenAI offers ChatGPT for $1 a year to US government workers The OpenAI logo. Gabby Jones/Bloomberg OpenAI is providing access to its ChatGPT product to US federal agencies at a nominal cost of $1 a year as part of a push to get its AI chatbot more widely adopted. The move comes after the General Services Administration announced it approved OpenAI, along with Alphabet Inc.'s Google and Anthropic, as vendors in its new marketplace allowing federal agencies to buy AI software at scale. OpenAI is offering the enterprise version of its ChatGPT product, which includes enhanced security and privacy features. The US government's central purchasing arm has used its buying power before to negotiate discounts with software providers like Adobe Inc. and Salesforce Inc. But the $1-a-year pricing from OpenAI is the deepest yet, and the first for an artificial intelligence company, according to a GSA official familiar with the matter. The terms of the contracts with Google's Gemini and Anthropic's Claude haven't been disclosed. Besides encouraging more applications of its ChatGPT product — which now has nearly 700 million users a week — OpenAI executives said the government discount would help deliver on the White House's action plan for federal agencies to integrate new AI tools in their work. 'The focus of this effort is not to gain a market advantage over competitors. It is to scale the adoption of artificial intelligence across the federal workforce,' said Joe Larson, vice president of government at OpenAI, said in an interview. 'The private sector is embracing AI. We don't believe the government should be left behind.' — BLOOMBERG NEWS HIGHER EDUCATION College applications rise outside US as Trump cracks down on international students Graduating students take photos outside Senate House at Cambridge University in England on May 17. 2024. Joe Giddens/Associated Press In China, wait times for US visa interviews are so long that some students have given up. Universities in Hong Kong are fielding transfer inquiries from foreign students in the United States, and international applications for British undergraduate programs have surged. President Trump's administration has been pressuring US colleges to reduce their dependence on international enrollment while adding new layers of scrutiny for foreign students as part of its crackdown on immigration. The US government has sought to deport foreign students for participating in pro-Palestinian activism. In the spring, it abruptly revoked the legal status of thousands of international students, including some whose only brush with law enforcement was a traffic ticket. After reversing course, the government paused new appointments for student visas while rolling out a process for screening applicants' social media accounts. The United States remains the first choice for many international students, but institutions elsewhere are recognizing opportunity in the upheaval, and applicants are considering destinations they might have otherwise overlooked. The impact on US universities — and the nation's economy — may be significant. New international enrollment in the United States could drop by 30 percent to 40 percent this fall, according to an analysis of visa and enrollment data by NAFSA, an agency that promotes international education. That would deprive the US economy of $7 billion in spending, according to the analysis. Many international students pay full price, so their absence would also hurt college budgets. — ASSOCIATED PRESS Advertisement
Boston Globe
29-07-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
With USAID gone, R.I.'s Edesia Nutrition is shipping food for starving children with support from private donors
Advertisement David Sarlitto, executive director of Ocean State Job Lot's Charitable Foundation, said Edesia's supplement is called a 'miracle food' by relief groups who said it can bring children on the brink of starvation back to nutritional normalcy. Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up 'One case of this product equates to a human life,' Sarlitto said. 'That's not over-dramatizing what's going on.' On Tuesday, a convoy of Ocean State Job Lot trucks — escorted by the Rhode Island State Police — departed for New York with Edesia's fortified supplement Plumpy'Nut. The food aid will then be taken by an ocean freightliner to South Sudan. Regan Communications Group Tuesday's delivery was made without the help of the federal government, Salem said. There are 185,000 boxes of Edesia's lifesaving nutritional paste still waiting in a Rhode Island warehouse, she added, and the organization has not been told where the boxes will go. 'They are aging but not at risk of expiration,' she said. 'We need food to be traveling to children, not sitting in warehouses.' Advertisement Edesia said it expects 1.6 million children in South Sudan to suffer from acute malnutrition in 2025, the group said in a press release. Last year, 85 percent of Edesia's business was from Related : Sarlitto said multiple agencies stepped up to ensure the delivery could quickly make its way down one of the nation's busiest traffic corridors, including Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee, Connecticut Governor Ned LaMont, and New York Governor Kathy Hochul who ordered state police to escort the convoy. 'Protecting global health and safety is everyone's responsibility,' Governor Dan McKee said in a statement to the Globe. 'Thank you to Ocean State Job Lot, Edesia and Provision Ministry for meeting the moment and delivering Plumpy'Nut nutrition to the starving families who need it desperately. RI State Police was proud to assist.' Edesia Nutrition CEO Navyn Salem walks past shipping boxes piled high alongside raw materials for Plumpy'Nut, a nutritional lifesaving peanut paste sent to malnourished children worldwide, at the company's warehouse in March in North Kingstown, R.I. David Goldman/Associated Press Salem is planning to continue self-funded operations to aid children in need. 'This is what we do to be creative while we wait for the US government to reestablish processes and supply chains we used to depend on,' Salem said. 'The State department has been building teams over the last 30 days to put new systems in place with how Edesia will be able to continue our work. It's positive and promising but we need something to be created in the interim.' US Representative Gabe Amo, who represents Rhode Island's First Congressional District, released a statement Tuesday thanking Edesia and OSJL for their food aid to South Sudan. Amo called on President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to support American farmers and aid producers by delivering Edesia's food aid to children and renewing contracts with Edesia so it can continue essential work. Advertisement 'Thanks to Ocean State Job Lot and Edesia Nutrition, working on coordination with the World Food Program, American can still answer the call when aid is needed,' Amo said in his statement. 'By partnering together, these organizations are filling the massive gap left by President Trump in delivering needed food assistance to children around the world.' Amo said he has 'pressed' Secretary Rubio and the State Department to resurrect America's aid programs. US Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, both Rhode Island Democrats, joined 40 US Senators in pushing for humanitarian aid in Gaza and resumption of diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire in the region. 'The acute humanitarian crisis in Gaza is also unsustainable and worsens by the day. Hunger and malnutrition are widespread, and, alarmingly, deaths due to starvation, especially among children, are increasing. The 'Gaza Humanitarian Foundation' has failed to address the deepening humanitarian crisis and contributed to an unacceptable and mounting civilian death toll around the organization's sites. To prevent the situation from getting even worse, we urge you to advocate for a large-scale expansion of humanitarian assistance,' the 40 US Senators Carlos Muñoz can be reached at
Time of India
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
US to destroy 500 tons of emergency food as aid freeze stalls global relief efforts
After months of stalled approvals under the Trump administration's foreign aid freeze , nearly 500 metric tons of high-energy biscuits purchased by the US government for humanitarian relief are now set to be incinerated. The biscuits, bought during the Biden administration for $800,000, were meant to feed children in crisis zones such as Afghanistan and Pakistan. But according to multiple current and former US aid officials, the food has been sitting in a warehouse in Dubai, nearing expiration. The shipment could have fed more than 1.5 million children for a week. Sources told The Atlantic and confirmed by Reuters that USAID staff repeatedly requested permission from new political appointees to distribute the food before its nutritional value declined. But with USAID now absorbed into the State Department and approval authority resting with inexperienced appointees, those requests were either ignored or lost in bureaucratic limbo. Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified before Congress in May that 'no food aid would go to waste.' But internal documents reviewed by The Atlantic show that by that time, the order to destroy the food had already been issued. The incineration will cost taxpayers an additional $130,000. The Dubai stockpile is just a fraction of what's being left unused. Over 66,000 tons of emergency food aid, purchased and warehoused across Djibouti, South Africa, Houston, and Dubai, is now at risk of expiring, according to Reuters. Aid groups say the freeze is already having fatal consequences. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, six children died in recent weeks after Action Against Hunger shut down programs due to a lack of US funding. Live Events Food companies say they've also been left in the dark. The US manufacturers of ready-to-use therapeutic food like Plumpy'Nut say they haven't received orders for months. 'It's sitting in our warehouses,' said Navyn Salem, CEO of Edesia. Despite Rubio's assurances, the State Department has not explained why aid wasn't redirected to other regions such as Sudan or Gaza.
Observer
21-06-2025
- Health
- Observer
This is easy to solve
Middle East peace, climate change, Ukraine — if Sisyphus were assigned one of today's global problems, he'd plead to be returned to rock rolling. So let's focus for a moment on a global challenge that we can actually solve: starvation. I suspect that some Americans — perhaps including President Donald Trump — want to slash humanitarian aid because they think problems like starvation are intractable. Absolutely wrong! We have nifty, elegant and cheap solutions to global hunger. Consider something really simple: deworming. I'm travelling through West Africa on my annual win-a-trip journey, in which I take a university student along on a reporting trip and every day we see children plagued by worms that aggravate their malnutrition. Nutrients go to their parasites, not to them. While worms are worthy antagonists — a female worm can lay 200,000 eggs in a day — aid agencies can deworm a child for less than $1 a year. This makes them stronger, less anemic and more likely to attend school. Researchers have even found higher lifetime earnings. In the US, we spend considerable sums deworming pets; every year I spend $170 deworming my dog, Connie Kuvasz Kristof. Yet deworming the world's children has never been as high a priority as deworming pets in the West, so we tolerate a situation in which 1 billion children worldwide carry worms. My win-a-trip winner, Sofia Barnett of Brown University and I are reminded in every village we visit of the toll of hunger. Malnutrition leaves more than one-fifth of children worldwide stunted, countless millions cognitively impaired and vast numbers (especially menstruating women and girls) weak from anemia. Malnutrition is a factor in 45 per cent of child deaths worldwide. A health worker weighs a baby at a clinic in Bombali District, Sierra Leone. NYT file photo Yet we also see how these deaths can be inexpensively prevented. In one Sierra Leone clinic, we met a 13-month-old boy, Abukamara, with sores and stick limbs from severe malnutrition. His mother, Mariatu Fornah, invited us to her village deep in the bush. The family is impoverished and struggling. The parents and four children share a mattress in a thatch-roof mud-brick hut with no electricity, and no one in the family had eaten that day, even though it was early afternoon. Fornah is doing what she can. She spent her entire savings of $3 and traded away a dress to get a traditional herb remedy for Abukamara, and she made the long trek to the clinic to get help. And there she found it — in the form of a miracle peanut paste. The clinic gave her a supply of the peanut paste, one foil packet a day and it will almost certainly restore Abukamara. This peanut paste contains protein, micronutrients and everything a child's body needs, plus it tastes good and costs just $1 per child per day. Known by the brand name Plumpy'Nut or the ungainly abbreviation RUTF, for ready-to-use therapeutic food, it has saved millions of children's lives over the years. Trump's closure of the United States Agency for International Development led to the cancellation of orders for RUTF and 185,535 boxes of it are piled up in the warehouse of Edesia Nutrition, according to the firm's founder and CEO, There are other inexpensive nutritional steps that could save many lives and some are astonishingly low-tech. Optimal breastfeeding could save up to 800,000 lives a year, The Lancet estimated, with no need for trucks, warehouses or refrigeration. Vitamin A supplementation would save lives, as would food fortification (adding nutrients to common foods). Promoting orange-flesh sweet potatoes over white-flesh ones would help, because orange ones have a precursor of vitamin A. Encouraging healthier crops like beans and millet rich with iron, rather than, say, cassava would help as well. Investments in nutrition — along with others in vaccines and in treating diarrhea, pneumonia and other ailments — help explain why fewer than half as many children die before the age of 5 now as in 2000. Yet after leading the world in fighting malnutrition, the US may be surrendering the field. America used to be the world's leading backer of nutrition, but the US government did not even send a formal delegation to the 2025 Nutrition for Growth summit, a conference held every four years. The US was expected to host the next summit, but now that's not clear. In my journalistic career, I've seen children dying from bullets, malaria, cholera and simple diarrhea, but perhaps the hardest to watch are kids who are starving. Their bodies have sores that don't heal, their hair falls out and their skin peels. By that point, even nourishing food doesn't always bring them back. What is most eerie is that such children don't cry or protest; they are impassive, with blank faces. That's because the body is fighting to keep the organs functioning and refuses to waste energy on tears or protests. Their heads don't move, but their eyes follow us silently, presumably wondering if we will care enough to ease their pain. Mr. Trump, will we? — The New York Times
Metro
17-05-2025
- Business
- Metro
Enough food to feed 3,500,000 people for a month left to rot due to Trump cuts
Food that could feed 3.5 million people for a month has reportedly been left to rot in warehouses across the world because of US aid cuts. Around 60,000 metric tons of supplies meant for hunger stricken regions such as Gaza and Sudan are stuck in warehouses in Houston, Djibouti, Durban and Dubai, according to aid agency sources. It comes after US president Donald Trump cut funding to the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in January. Some stocks are due to expire as early as July and will likely to be destroyed or used as animal feed, the sources told Reuters. The warehouses are run by USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), while the food is sourced from US farmers and manufacturers they said. The supplies are worth more than $98 million, according to a document reviewed by Reuters, which was shared by an aid official and verified by a US government source as up to date. That food could sustain over a million people for three months or feed Gaza's entire population for six weeks, according to World Food Programme data Around 343 million people are facing acute levels of food insecurity around the globe, says the World Food Programme. Of those, 1.9 million people are experiencing catastrophic hunger. Most of them are in Gaza and Sudan, but areas of South Sudan, Haiti and Mali are also affected. The US government has issued waivers for some humanitarian programmes but the food is stuck at the warehouses due to the cancellation of contracts and freezing of funds needed to pay suppliers, shippers and contractors, according to the sources, which include former USAID employees. They said a proposal to hand the stocks to aid organisations able to distribute them is on hold and awaiting approval from the State Department's Office of Foreign Assistance. Almost all of USAID staff will lose their jobs in July and September, according to a notification submitted to Congress in March. The former USAID sources said many of the critical staff needed to manage the warehouses or move the supplies will leave in July. The United States is responsible for at least 38% of all aid contributions across the world, according to the United Nations and distributed$61 billion in foreign assistance last year. Just over half of this was through USAID. US food aid includes ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) such as high-energy biscuits and Plumpy'Nut, a peanut-based paste. Navyn Salem, the founder of Edesia, a US based manufacturer of the paste, said USAID's termination of transportation contracts had created a 5,000 tonne stockpile that could feed more than 484,000 children. She said she was hopeful, however, that the product could still be distributed to those who desperately needed it. More Trending Action Against Hunger, a charity that relied on the US for more than 30% of its global budget, said last month the cuts had already led to the deaths of at least six children at its programmes in the Congo, due to projects having to be suspended. Jeanette Bailey, director of nutrition at the International Rescue Committee, which receives much of its funding from the US, said it was scaling back its programmes following the cuts. She said the impact of Trump's cuts was difficult to measure, particularly in places where aid programmes no longer operate. 'What we do know, though, is that if a child's in an inpatient stabilization centre and they're no longer able to access treatment, more than 60% of those children are at risk of dying very quickly,' she added. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Map shows severe storms in US after 21 killed across three states MORE: 'Uber has innovated so hard… they invented a bus' MORE: 'Armed and dangerous' prisoners escape through hole behind toilet while guard was on break
