CU senior thinks peanut butter is key to solving hunger crisis

BOULDER - University of Colorado at Boulder senior Mark Arnoldy should be preparing for graduation this May. Instead he's preparing to travel to another part of the world.

"The big picture is that I've taken a year off to work in Nepal," he said while meeting with two professors.

While in Nepal, Arnoldy will work on developing a product that he thinks could be the best option for fighting malnutrition in children: a fortified peanut butter that he first found out about while on a trip to Haiti.

"It was heartbreaking, but it was promising at the same time," he said of his experience in Haiti that brought him face-to-face with malnourished children who received the peanut butter at doctor's office, after routine weigh-ins.

"I was able to hold a child who (was born) HIV positive... he was literally alive because of this product," Arnoldy said.

The fortified peanut butter only has five ingredients: peanuts, sugar, oil, powdered milk and a vitamin and mineral complex. The product, which Arnoldy says was developed by a French pediatric nutritionist in the 1990s, helps children gain weight.

The 22-year-old, who plans to become a physician, now wants to develop the product in Nepal, a place he's visited and witnessed child malnutrition.

"It's not hard to see malnourished children in Nepal," he said. "There are about half a million that are either severely, moderately or acutely malnourished."

Arnoldy met with CU officials Monday to begin working on a business plan that will include getting the ingredients for the product from Nepali farmers and eventually handing over production and distribution of the product to a Nepali organization.

"If they can do this in Haiti, we can do it in Nepal," Arnoldy said. "I know we can!"

Mark Arnoldy leaves for Nepal on Wednesday.

Arnoldy's involvement was fostered by the University of Colorado at Boulder's Civic Engagement Mission. The university says thousands of CU-Boulder students participate every year with programs around the world and in their own neighborhoods.