Harvesting the future: Gabriel Salazar at TEDxGuatemalaCity

Gabriel Salazar presents the multiple benefits of the Moringa olifeira plant, which comes form India and has remarkable sustainability characteristics. Moringa flour, which is extracted form this plant has some interesting nutritional that can be a powerful tool to fight malnutrition in communities around Guatemala. the testing phase of the project took place in San Basilio Suchitepequez and it has had very good results. This ambitious project seeks to attract the attention of businesses and individuals so that they to take action to fight social problems. This social program is carried out with no environmental impact.

(Applause)

Good afternoon, thank you.

Thank you for the introduction.

As you just heard, we sell packaging

that is disposable, organic and environmentally friendly.

I don´t know who amongst you, either during your coffee break or lunch hour,

had the chance to use one of these cups.

Everyone. (Applause)
I´m going to hand them over to you

so I can explain some of the material's characteristics

and so you can touch them and see

that they were Green Pack cups.

can you do me the favour of passing them around.

The disposable organic compounds that we sell

are substitutes for plastic

but with superior characteristics

If you have ever bought coffee in a styrofoam cup

or in a plastic one, you will have ingested more than 23 different toxins

which is not ideal for drinking coffee.

So, we are focused on developing new technology

to make a product that is 100% organic

which is what we are made of.

We use an inedible corn starch

which is not approved by the FDA
- in case anyone wants to attack me

for making prices go up -

Because that's not the case.
If we didn´t use this rejected corn

to make packaging, it would be burned.

So we use an inedible corn starch

and inedible tuber starch.

How does this work?

Well, in reality, thanks to the technology that we have developed

for packaging material, we have made a product that

has a microscopic porous texture,
which enables micro-organisms

to degrade it

and that is what it really means to be "biodegradable",

it's the ability for a raw material

or a finished product to be degraded

by micro-organisms over a certain period of time.

Certain plastics have added substances
- "OXO" is an example -

which enables the plastic to degrade

and to break down,

but it is never consumed by micro-organisms

so we're talking about something that is worse

because it's harder to collect

and only a small percentage

of these "OXO" products are compatible

with normal plastic recycling systems.

So, it's worse

but really,

I don't want to talk to you about how harmful plastic is

because I think that we are all aware

of how harmful plastic is to our ecosystems.

I took the liberty of including some slides

so that you can see the things

that happen every day but which we don't see

these are really alarming pictures.

In this one, it's not that the bags are

really well coordinated. (Laughter)

It's a photoshopped image alluding to what animals eat

because there are animals that eat jellyfish.
There is a food chain

and it is sad to see animals eat plastic

and then end up dying.

Two million turtles die every year, solely due to the consumption of plastic

It's a truly alarming statistic

Can someone tell me what this is?

No, How about now?

60,000 plastic bags are eaten

every 5 seconds, this is impressive!

Personally, ever since I was a boy

I thought it was incredible to be given something disposable

whose purpose is to be useful for a very short period of time

and then have to throw it away

and that this raw material takes some 600 to 800 years to bio-degrade.

To me something doesn't add up, I don't know about you...

I don't know if you remember before the iPod came out

what we used to use? Walkmans, Discmans...

The Walkman was inmense

If you went jogging with a Walkman, you would end up like Julio Martinez.

sauntering... because your shorts would be down here

(Laughter)

And if you were mugged you could hit the thief

with the Walkman and knock him out.

Steve Jobs had a phrase that I really liked,

when he introduced the ipod he said:

"I like to think that in our own small way

we are making the planet a better place", and that way of thinking

is what I'm so fond of.

This is the way we think every day at Green Pack.

We believe that we are making a change with the product we sell

and, actually, I don't know if you can tell

but I speak about this with great passion

and I love my product.

I'm actually going to change the subject briefly.

I think the last time I messed up an appointment,

I remember it was a few years ago,

was when we went to a hennery to develop a new egg box

and the manager told me: Look, your product is very good

but I need my eggs to be displayed.

(Laughter)

We didn't have a good start right?

So, we obviously didn't fulfill this requirement

because our packaging isn't transparent.

There's a statistic here in Guatemala, that one in every two kids

under 5 years old suffers from chronic malnutrition.

That's alarming!

If you think about it, that's 50% of all kids

under 5 years old suffering from chronic malnutrition.

I think it's incredible.

A few years ago, thanks to my wife,

I got involved in an organisation called
"Un techo para mi pais"

We went to Santa Rosa to help with construction

and I continued to be involved thereafter

as of that moment my sense of social commitment was awakened.

I therefore decided to continue to be involved in this initiative.

and I started to experience first-hand

the level of malnutrition that really exists in these community

It's staggering!

The kids are skinny, not because they are from Zacapa

or because of a "Oh, how cute, they're skinny!" type thing

but because they have a high level of malnutrition

and that is really alarming, really alarming.

So, after that I decided

I get in touch with my uncle

who has dedicated himself to social service for roughly 40 years.

I told him I had to work with him and I had to meet with him

to brainstorm some ideas at the very least

and see what came out.

And I he told me about a plant,

a plant that has 3 times more protein per 100 grams than eggs,

it has 4 times more calcium than milk,

7 times more vitamin C than oranges,

3 times more potassium than bananas,

and 2 times more iron than spinach .

How?

This is amazing!

And besides this, he told me that

it's one of the fastest growing plants in the world;

it grows 3.5 meters every 9 months.

This is great!

Then he told me "pay attention to this, it is very interesting"

if the seeds are cold pressed

- in other words put through a simple manual press -

oil can be obtained.

This oil has the same properties

as vegetable oil. What does this mean?

It means you can use it to cook. And what's so good about that?

The nutrients will be passed

from the oil to the food

this... this can't be. Well,

it's yet another excellent property of this plant.

Then he says "But that's not all,

after you press the seeds and obtain the oil

you'll be left with the skin, and in the middle of this skin

there's a thin layer that's very, very sticky

that brakes the skin when pressed

and becomes exposed."

He tells me that I can take a bucket of waste water,

river water, lake water, whatever is close to the community;

I can take the shell and put it in the bucket,

stir it for about ten minutes,

and this sticky substance makes the small particles of impurities,

14% of bacteria and the soil stick to it

so that when I remove the skin, all these impurities are removed with it

I won't get a bucket of drinking water,

but I will obtain a bucket of water suitable for washing containers,

for washing clothes, and for many other uses

that have developed in the community.

it's an incredible plant, it can't be true, and he tells me
"that's not all".

(Laughter)

I'm basically drooling,

He tells me "This plant is used in many countries

it's native to India, but it's used in many countries

where it is interspersed with other seeds". What does this mean?

Well,

if I'm growing Pimiento Chilies, for example,

I can plant Moringa oleifera trees in between the Pimiento Chilies

and during the dry season their roots have such a capacity

that they can store enough water

to feed the crops during the dry season.

This means that not only is the plant good for eating

but it also helps other crops to grow.

Impressive, I thought this was impressive.

From there

we decided to start the project.

I said "I've got to do something with this plant, now!"

and so we implemented it in Green Pack.

And it has been a way to trade

whilst being socially responsible. Why?

Because people are interested in showing our product

because it is very innovative and low cost

and here's where I give you the key word: It's sustainable

This plant foliates year-round

it continues to grow and produce seeds

and the results in the community have been outstanding!

The 3.5 meters that grow every 9 months did even better,

we managed 4 meters in 7 months. This is incredible!

The soil in Guatemala is very fertile

and it's obviously suited to growing this plant.

We introduced it using a very simple method, as I'm telling you.

I repeat: it's sustainable, low cost,

and uses a small amount of resources, yet it's effective.

We take the plant....

we have more than 37 families currently enrolled in the

pilot scheme in San Basilio Suchitepéquez.

And this is just the beginning of what we intend to cover

across the entire region; it's a very, very simple system.

This is literally the first family

that we helped here in San Basilio

and, well, the clip that you see here is our film

it's biodegradable. So it's a social program

with no environmental impact, which is also very important

that's something we're very proud to be able to say.

We also produce a homemade fertilizer.

What does it include? It contains onions, garlic,

detergent for washing dishes, cigar tobacco.

A good use for tobacco, right?

Again, it's something that is very low cost

and it works. This is the first harvest

- we're already growing the plant here -

this is the first harvest that we were able to produce.

That's after approximately two months

and then we decided to implement a barrier...

One of the problems we encountered

was that the harvest was being eaten by plagues of ants.
Just like any other project,

there are always flaws in the beginning.
But you have to correct them.

So we decided to implement one of these biodegradable cups,

we cut it here, we put it in the stem,

We put fertilizer in them,

It means that we are optimizing the use of fertilizer

because it only goes around the stem.

We are optimizing the water for irrigation is a specific measure.

We use 8 ounce cups, it is sprinkled with 8 ounces of water.

It is a really wonderful plant.
This is the plant,

Maybe that I commented les that in 6 months

already reached a height

greater than expected; It is to say that the project works.

Then, how is it consumed?

We teach workshops to the community for consumption

Moringa and, well, the truth is that they ended up giving me a workshop

on how to harvest it because, obviously,

I'm not going to go and teach them how to harvest crops

When they have been doing this for their entire lives. Then,

It is a very simple process and everything is manual:

I cut the plant, we put it to dry 4 days,

then spent it 4 exact days, manual strain

and strain it with a spoon. Simple.

And that is what is called

Moringa flour or flour of moringa.

This moringa flour is what contains all the nutrients

that I talked about just a moment ago

and this moringa flour is implemented in typical meals of the community, such as

tortillas, chicken soup,

and I'd like to comment that, it makes me very proud

to have reached the community, and the community

greeted me with tamales de chipilín with moringa.

That is, they consume it and recipes are invented

and it has been impressive, impressive.

And, finally, the dosage of moringa.

Why do we ration it?
Because we have strategic partners

and I take this opportunity to give thanks to the New Guatemala,

through these partner foundations

We want to bring the moringa to communities

in where you cannot grow this plant, because

chronic malnutrition is a problem that not only is

in places where this plant is grown

but it's across the country.

Then we ration it, always with biodegradable packaging.

(Laughter)

And, as that is the purpose.

It makes sad, it makes me very sad.

When I got to St. Basil, I saw that the Health Center looks like this

and it was desolate and abandoned, I don't know since when

But, what happens with these health centers?

There's enough budget to buy Incaparina

for 3 months, to buy protein

to buy vitamin A and vitamin C

But what happens after those 3 months?

That there is no budget. This has not been given follow-up.

So, in my opinion is a solution, despite the redundancy,

sustainable and low cost that can continue

the community of St. Basil.
And not only that,

It generates revenue for the community of St. Basil.

San Basilio is a community, only to enter the road

to the community is between one hour and hour and a half dirt.

Extreme dirt, for certainly not any path of Earth.

And, then, no matter how much they harvest

It is to feed themselves.
They don't sell anything,

because there's no one who goes there and buys thinghs

And is that our work,

to generate income in the community

and take this moringa to other malnourished communities.

And, then, I hope this is only the beginning

a project that will include many region in Guatemala,

because the project is ambitious.

It's my pleasure to bring this opportunity to the community of San Basilio.

You have to know this people of San Basilio.

I urge companies and individuals today here present

to get attention to the Department

Corporate Social responsibility

because if all the companies do something as well,

Guatemala would be different.

Thank you.

(Applause)