KRAFT FOODS FOUNDATION AND INMED PARTNER TO ALLEVIATE MALNUTRITION IN BRAZIL

NORTHFIELD, Ill., April 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Celebrating World Health Day, INMED Partnerships for Children and the Kraft Foods Foundation are launching Health in Action (Acao Saudavel), a school-based hunger and healthy lifestyles program designed to alleviate malnutrition in Brazil.  

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The Kraft Foods Foundation is donating $2.25 million over three years to the project, its largest single contribution in Latin America.  This is the foundation's third major international community investment announced over the past year, following similar grants in Indonesia, Philippines and Russia, totaling $6.5 million.

Health in Action will launch in nine cities across Brazil, including Recife, Vitoria do Santo Antao and four other towns in the state of Pernambuco, which, like most states of the North and Northeast regions, has substantially higher rates of poverty and lower standards of living than other states in the country.  According to data from the Brazilian Census, about half of the families in Vitoria do Santo Antao and Recife live in poverty.  In addition, school lunches do not provide adequate, balanced nutrition, and there is a particular lack of fresh fruits and vegetables.  Other cities participating in the project include Curitiba, Piracicaba and Bauru.

"Kids must be healthy to fully develop and reach their potential physically and mentally," said Dr. Linda Pfeiffer, President, INMED Partnerships for Children.  "It is INMED's ultimate goal to rescue kids now from immediate, irreversible harm, and to prepare them to shape a brighter future for themselves and the next generation."

Adding Healthy Ingredients to the Kids' Education Menu

Health in Action will bring simple and effective tools designed to reduce hunger and improve the health of kids from 5 to 14 years old.  The ingredients of this specialized curriculum include:

• Educate kids on nutrition, basic hygiene and active play.
• Teach kids about nutrition through school-based fruit and vegetable gardens.  With the help of their teachers and INMED specialists, kids will plant, tend and harvest the gardens to provide fresh food for meals at school and at home.
• Train school cooks in food safety and nutritious recipe preparation using the produce from the school garden.
• Teach moms how to start their own gardens and about the basics of good nutrition for their families.
• Bring a low-cost, low-tech water purification technique to address sanitation issues that contaminate the water supply.
• Perform screenings and treat children from the participating schools for parasites and anemia, which can have devastating effects on children's health if left untreated.

In total, the program will reach approximately 675,000 people, including more than 150,000 kids plus their families and the community.

"Health in Action has the potential to transform entire communities as it empowers teachers, kids and their families to address the issues around hunger and healthy lifestyles for themselves," said Nicole Robinson, Vice President, Kraft Foods Foundation.  "We are very pleased to have INMED as our partner to deliver this program."

About INMED Partnerships for Children

INMED Partnerships for Children is an international humanitarian organization. Since 1986, INMED has built alliances with public- and private-sector partners in more than 100 countries to rescue children from the immediate and irreversible harm of disease, hunger, abuse, neglect or violence, and to prepare them to shape a brighter future for themselves and the next generation.

Together with its partners, INMED is transforming the future for hundreds of thousands of children and their family and community members in the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean, and southern Africa by:

• Securing children's health, development and safety
• Developing skills, knowledge and opportunities for children and youth
• Building family and community capacity to support and sustain positive change

Kraft Foods Support of Hunger and Healthy Lifestyles

Kraft Foods is taking a stand when it comes to fighting hunger and promoting healthy lifestyles.  The company, along with the Kraft Foods Foundation, is addressing food insecurity through an integrated approach to affect lasting change in three key ways.

First, the company is meeting the immediate needs of the hungry with direct aid through financial contributions and donations of food.  Kraft Foods and its Foundation have donated more than $850 million in cash and food to organizations since 1990.  In the United States alone, they've provided over one billion servings of food during the past 10 years.  In 2009, the company reinforced its commitment by donating $180 million over a three-year period to community involvement activities around the globe.

Second, Kraft Foods is developing and marketing products that provide affordable nutrition, such as Tang fortified beverages in Asia Pacific and Latin America and Eden cheese in the Philippines.

Third, through sustainable agriculture, the company is helping deliver social, environmental and economic benefits.  For example, Kraft Foods has been collaborating with the Rainforest Alliance since 2003 and is now the largest buyer of coffee and cocoa from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms.  Together, the collaboration has benefited more than 325,000 farm workers and their dependents on more than 75,000 hectares of farmland in tropical countries.  Building on these efforts, a partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will ultimately help an estimated 1.6 million cocoa and cashew farmers in Africa.  

About Kraft Foods

The combination of Kraft Foods and Cadbury creates a global powerhouse in snacks, confectionery and quick meals. With annual revenues of approximately $50 billion, the combined company is the world's second largest food company, making delicious products for billions of consumers in more than 160 countries. The combined company's portfolio includes 11 iconic brands with revenues exceeding $1 billion - Oreo, Nabisco and LU biscuits; Milka and Cadbury chocolates; Trident gums; Jacobs and Maxwell House coffees; Philadelphia cream cheeses; Kraft cheeses, dinners and dressings; and Oscar Mayer meats. Another 70+ brands generate annual revenues of more than $100 million. Kraft Foods (www.kraftfoodscompany.com; NYSE: KFT) is a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Standard & Poor's 500, Dow Jones Sustainability Index and Ethibel Sustainability Index.

- make today delicious –

SOURCE Kraft Foods Foundation