Harvesting the future: Gabriel Salazar at TEDxGuatemalaCity

Gabriel Salazar presents the multiple benefits and outstanding success of the Moringa olifeira plant: a highly-sustainable plant native to India. Moringa flour produced from this plant can be used to make nutritional dishes, helping to fight the high levels of child malnutrition that afflict many communities in Guatemala. The project was piloted in San Basilio Suchitepéquez with very good results and they are eager to spread into further communities. Salazar urges businesses and individuals to maintain a sense of social responsibility so that they can take action to help communities in need. It's a social programe with zero impact on the environment.

(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,
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'll 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 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, like OXO,
contain additives

which enable 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 products are compatible

with normal plastic recycling systems.

So, it's worse,

but really,

I won't 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 some animals 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, that's astonishing!

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 one has 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
what we used to use

before the iPod came out?
Walkmans, Discmans...

The Walkman was huge.

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

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.

There's a Steve Jobs quote
that I really like.

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 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 business meeting,

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 on display."

(Laughter)

We didn't have a good start, right?

So, we 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 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 organization called
"Un techo para mi país."

We helped with construction in Santa Rosa,
and I've been involved ever since.

As of that moment,

my sense of social commitment
was awakened.

That's why I 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 communities.

It's staggering!

The kids are skinny,
not because they are from Zacapa

or because it's "cute," no, they're skinny

because they have a high level
of malnutrition

and that is really alarming.

So, after that I decided

to get in touch with my uncle

who has dedicated roughly 40 years
to social service.

I said I had to work with him,
I had to meet him

to brainstorm some ideas
at the very least

and see what comes out.

And he told me about 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?

Incredible!

And besides this, he told me

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

it grows 3.5 meters every 9 months.

This is great!

Then he said, "this 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 can't be!

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 sticky

that breaks 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 skin
and put it in the bucket,

stir it for about ten minutes,

and this sticky substance
makes the small particles of impurities,

14% of the bacteria,
and the dirt, 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, 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's interspersed with other seeds."
What does this mean?

Well, needless to say,

if I'm growing pimiento chilis,
for example,

I can plant Moringa oleifera trees
between the chilis,

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.

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

while 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.

As I say, we introduced it
using a very simple method.

And I repeat: it's sustainable, low cost,

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

We take the plant....
Well, 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,

the clip that you see here is our film.

And 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 very low cost

and it works.

This is the first harvest.

We're already growing the plant here.

This is the first crop
that we were able to produce.

After approximately two months

we decided to implement a barrier,

because one of the problems

was that plagues of ants
were eating the crops.

Like in every project, there are flaws
at the beginning, and you correct them.

So we decided to introduce
one of these biodegradable cups,

we cut it here and placed it
around the stem

then filled it with fertilizer.

This means we can optimize
the use of fertilizer

by only having it around the stem.

Water is also optimized
because only a certain area needs watering

We use 8 ounce cups,
which are watered with 8 ounces of water.

It is a really wonderful plant.

Like I said, this is the plant that,
after 6 months,

had already reached a height
greater than expected,

which meant that the project works.

So then, how is it used?

We hold workshops in the community
on how to use the trees.

The truth is they ended up
giving me a workshop

on how to harvest,

because obviously I won't teach them
how to harvest crops,

when they have been doing that
their entire lives.

So, it is a very simple process
and everything is manual.

The plant is cut,
and then left to dry for 4 days.

After exactly 4 days,
it goes through a manual sieve

and it is sieved using a spoon. Simple.

This produces what is called
Moringa flour.

This Moringa flour is what contains
all the nutrients

that I told you about earlier,

and this Moringa flour is used
in meals typical to the community

such as tortillas, chicken soup,

and I'd like to tell you,
it made me very proud

when I visited that community once,

and was greeted
with chipilín and moringa tamales.

To see them using it
and creating their own recipes

was truly amazing.

And, finally, the rationing of Moringa.

Why do we ration it?
Because we have strategic partners,

and I'll take this opportunity
to thank New Guatemala.

Through these partner foundations,

we want to bring the Moringa
to communities

where it cannot be grown,

because chronic malnutrition is a problem

not only where this plant grows,
but throughout the whole country.

So we ration it, using
biodegradable packaging, as always.

(Laughter)

And so that is the reason we ration.

It makes me very sad.

When I arrived in San Basilio,
I saw the Health Center looking like this.

It was desolate and abandoned,
I don't know for how long.

But what happens to these health centers?

There's enough budget to buy Incaparina

for a period of 3 months, to buy protein,

to buy vitamin A and vitamin C.

But what happens after those 3 months?

Now, there is no budget.
And so it isn't followed up.

In my opinion, there is a solution,
if you forgive the repetition,

a sustainable and low cost solution
that can continue feeding

the community of San Basilio.
Not only that,

but it also generates
a revenue for the community.

The only way to get to San Basilio by car

is to drive for over an hour
on a dirt road.

A very rough dirt road, I might add.

And so, no matter how much they harvest,

it is all used to feed themselves.
They don't sell anything,

because no one goes
all the way there to buy things.

And that's our work, channeling sales

to generate income for the community

and to transport the Moringa
to other malnourished communities.

And I hope this is only
the beginning of a project

that will include many regions
in Guatemala,

because it's an ambitious project.

For me, it's a pleasure
to bring opportunity

to the community of San Basilio.

You must get to know
the people of San Basilio.

I urge the companies and individuals
present here today

to pay special attention

to corporate social responsibility

because if every company took action,

Guatemala would be different.

Thank you.

(Applause)