"Uh-oh. I hope this wasn't food aid."

I show Amos the peanut butter I purchased.

“Oh yes, I know this. They use it in refugee camps.”

“Refugee camps?”

“Yeah. You just open the packet and (slurp sound).”

“Uh-oh. I hope this wasn’t food aid.”

-


[1]

I was heading to waterside for some local peanut butter, but it was getting late. Part of basic safety and security protocol one learns in Peace Corps is that you avoid 5 things:
1. Unfamiliar or dangerous locations
2. Walking alone
3. Walking at night
4. Walking with visible valuables
5. Walking home drunk

I really wanted peanut butter but the trip would take me past sunset and then I would be walking alone at night. I decided to try the local stores instead.

Three shops said they had no peanut butter. One or two street vendors had jars of peanut butter, but the jars cost $3 and don’t work as well for peanut butter soup as the local peanut butter.

On my way out of the last shop, just as I had decided to walk home, a man called me back and said he knew someone who had peanut butter. He took me up the street to another street vendor and showed me a small foil packet of peanut butter. He asked for 25 Liberty, which is the right price for local peanut butter in that quantity. I happily made the purchase and walked home.

After showing the peanut butter to Amos I was concerned that I had accidentally purchased food aid.

In the office the next day, I overheard someone talking about a shipment of ‘plumpy-nut’ going to a refugee camp. I became far more concerned that I had purchased, and now eaten, food aid intended for malnourished children. I decided to look up ‘plumpy-nut’ online.

As it turns out ‘plumpy-nut’ is definitely a food aid product. Had I known at the time I wouldn’t have purchased it. It is very likely that I am now the unwitting end-user of a black market in food aid peanut butter.

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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plumpy%27nut, accessed on July 27, 2010.,