Complete Story
02/08/2008
OSC's Mike Clark Is Newest Board Member of World Initiative for Soy in Human Health
Contact:
Jamie Butts
Communications Director
614-476-3100
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 8, 2008
OSC's Mike Clark Is Newest Board Member of
World Initiative for Soy in Human Health
COLUMBUS, OH - More than 150 people from 48 countries have learned about soybeans as they toured Ohio Soybean Council (OSC) board member Mike Clark's farm. Now as the newest board member of the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH) Program, Clark is helping take the good news about soy protein to even more countries around the globe.
OSC appointed Clark to represent it on the WISHH board of directors; OSC has been a leading supporter of the program since soybean farmers founded it in 2000. Allen Armstrong of South Charleston previously represented OSC on the WISHH board. The new leadership post is a natural for Clark who also belongs to the World Affairs Council because of his global interests.
''WISHH is grateful to have soybean growers like Mike Clark to serve at its helm,'' said WISHH Executive Director Jim Hershey. ''He has first hand knowledge of the great interest and potential for U.S. soy in developing countries, which can grow into long-term customers for U.S. farmers.''
The WISHH Program promotes the use of U.S. soy protein products in developing countries where deficiency of protein in human diets is a serious problem. One goal of WISHH is long-term market development - teaching developing countries to use soy in diets now so there are greater soy foods opportunities in the future as each country's standard of living rises.
In 2007, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that consumers in high-income nations spend less than 10 cents of each additional dollar on food. In developing countries like Indonesia and Vietnam, each additional dollar of income increases food purchases by between 30 and 40 cents. Consider the 250 million middle class households in developing countries, with an average income of $10,000 and current food expenditures of $3000. If their incomes grow at an annual rate of 5 percent and food demand grows 2 percent annually, in 15 years these households would be spending $250 billion more on food per year.
''I see WISHH as helping bring soy protein to those who truly need and want it,'' says Clark who farms within the seven city limits of Kettering, Beaver Creek, Lebanon, Middleton, Franklin, Springboro and Waynesville.
Clark will also serve on the board of the World Soy Foundation, a charitable organization that works with private voluntary and non-governmental organizations on humanitarian projects that deliver soy protein and nutrition education in developing countries.
While some of the work WISHH did in its early years was humanitarian in nature, the World Soy Foundation expands on that experience, said WISHH Executive Director Jim Hershey. WISHH will continue to work with private companies in developing countries to build demand and markets for U.S. soy products. ''By creating the World Soy Foundation, soybean farmers are inviting everyone to take part in helping people improve their diets through educational efforts and select international feeding programs,'' Hershey said.
A leading international medical journal, The Lancet, recently drew attention to the need for better nutrition, particularly for young children. ''More than 3.5 million mothers and children under 5 die unnecessarily each year in poor countries due to the underlying cause of under nutrition, and millions more are permanently disabled by the physical and mental effects of a poor dietary intake in the earliest months of life,'' said the lead author, Dr. Robert Black, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Headquartered in Columbus, the Ohio Soybean Council is governed by an 18-member volunteer farmer board, which directs the Soybean Promotion and Research Program. The program's primary goal is to improve soybean profitability by targeting research and development projects through the investment of farmer-contributed funds.
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