My Teddy Feeds Hungry Kids in Africa. What Does Your Teddy Do?
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Most of the time I look the other way when The Barnacle receives another unapproved toy. There was that little incident when I killed Baby Ava mere hours after she opened her VOC-emitting box on Christmas morning. (She was off-gassing! So sue me!) But typically I let her play with pretty much anything for a few days until she gets tired of it and then follow the time-tested, mother-approved means of disposal: I give it to Good Will.
And since those off-gassing toys are few and far between heaps of unneeded stuffed animals, baby dolls, party favors and general plastic crap that kids adore, my guilt over giving toys that I won’t let my child play with away so other people’s children can play with them is somewhat (though not completely) abated.
Although I’m not a fan of petroleum-based plastic, acrylic, nylon or polyester, it’s mainly because I don’t want to support the manufacturers who depend on these materials to make inexpensive toys and giant profit margins, rather than because I think they’re truly harmful to my daughter’s health. (Although they do make her sneeze.)
But here’s a manufacturer that I will support—and would be proud to add to the zoo of stuffed animals that haven’t yet met my wrecking ball. Made of organic cotton and natural burlap, the FEED Bear may look like a run-of-the-mill teddy, but its sales support Plumpy’nut, whose mission is to feed severely malnourished children ages five and under in sub-Saharan Africa, where more children die of malnutrition than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined.
Endorsed by the World Health Organization and UNICEF for its ability to treat severe acute malnutrition with a 95% success rate in the home, rather than a hospital, and revolutionary because it requires no refrigeration or water to prepare, Plumpy’nut is more than just food—it’s medicine.
The FEED Bear is the brainchild of Lauren Bush, whose FEED Bags provided food for hungry children in Rwanda, and the formula here is the same: Buy a FEED 5 Bear for $60 and you provide Plumpy’nut to five severely malnourished children in the region of East Africa; buy a FEED 3 Bear for $35 and you nourish three.
What does you teddy bear do?
