NVC manufactures Mingo, a nutritious instant complementary food (nutrition sources other than breast milk given to young children). Mingo’s key ingredients are rice, mongo (mung beans), and malunggay (moringa) grown by our partner farmers. Mingo was developed mainly for infants and toddlers, and we continue to focus on feeding children from 6 months to 5 years. However, Mingo can also be used for older children and adults in times and areas of need.
Mingo comes in powder form that becomes a porridge when mixed with water. However, some children enjoy snacking on the powder straight out of the pack! Eating Mingo in powder form is safe because the ingredients are already fully cooked.
We’ve developed other variants in addition to original Mingo. Children enjoy all the different variants of Mingo: original, chocolate, squash and ube.
Children enrolled in the Mingo Meals Nutrition Program show a marked increase in their weight compared to their peers who are not part it. The mothers also observe an improvement in their children’s intellectual and social behavior.
Mingo can be purchased by organizations, institutions and LGUs for their own feeding programs. One Mingo Meal costs just P10.00 and charitable institutions can apply for discounts for bulk purchases. One 20-g pack of Mingo makes one serving. Click on the link below to buy Mingo. For orders of more than 250 pieces, please email [email protected] or call +63917 309 5551.
“Under-nutrition in the Philippines remains a serious problem. The damage to health, physical growth and brain development of children affected by chronic under-nutrition—stunting in the first two years—is often irreversible, impairing them for life and leaving them with lower chances of finishing school and becoming highly-productive adults.” (Unicef Philippines)
NVC runs a nutrition program for children from impoverished families to help them build strong bodies and sharp minds. Our approach is very holistic and systematic. Recently, we began incorporating elements from the model program being used in Peru which has been proven effective at combatting stunting. Not only do we provide complementary food in the form of Mingo Meals, but we also provide incentives that encourage participating families to stick to the program. Families who adhere to the program earn incentives. With these incentives, families can “shop” for food from our community pantry. We have also begun to expand the program to include providing sources of extra nutrition and income in the community. For instance, we might start community vegetable gardens or give qualified families small broods of chickens.
NVC’s Mingo Meals nutrition program focuses mainly on clusters of children aged 6–60 months living in in deprived communities. This fills a gap in the nutrition of infants and toddlers. Most of government and NGO feeding programs focus on children 5 years and older, administered either in day care or elementary school. Furthermore, the effects of stunting are largely irreversible and 80% of the brain’s development takes place before a child’s second birthday.
If we have provision to do so, we also provide Mingo Meals for the siblings of the child enrolled in the program.
When funding is available, we also run some special programs for older children that make use of our Mingo Meals, sometimes with the addition fresh produce. To encourage children to go to school, the meals are served at school.
NVC’s protocol for those below 5 years of age is usually home-based. This makes it easier for the parents or guardians who may be too busy to go to a feeding center on a daily basis. This is why it is important we have classes for parents and guardians on nutrition, food preparation, budgeting and hygiene.
When we enroll children in our Mingo Meals Nutrition Program, we record their starting height and weight. We then monitor the children’s progress monthly throughout the program’s duration. We have an orientation at the start of the program to teach parents and guardians about the importance of proper nutrition. Field officers conduct regular visits to check on beneficiaries at home. Parents and guardians must also attend our classes on food safety, nutrition, and hygiene during our Quarterly Assemblies.
Recently, Peru tried a different approach to feeding programs and it was very successful and so we decided to take a page from their book. When we adopted the Peru model, we initiated additional services to improve the overall effectivity of the program. We began offering services like quarterly health check-ups and wellness counseling. When families complete tasks such as coming in for these check-ups or keeping their children’s Mingo passports updated, they earn points. Families can use these points to go ‘shopping’ for food and essentials at the community pantry after quarterly check-ups.
There are so many children in need of better nutrition to put them on the path to a brighter future! No amount is too small.
In 2020, the Provincial Governement of Negros Occidental sponsored a 6-month Mingo nutrition program for 2,000 underweight or malnourished children in 10 areas with the highest degrees of malnutrition. As of March 2021, 677 have graduated to normal after 3 months of taking Mingo daily. All areas with Mingo have shown greater improvement than the control group that isn′t on Mingo.
Each 20-gram pack of Mingo is good for one serving.
Vicky, our resident food technologist, gives a virtual tour of NVC’s Mingo production plant.
as of November 30, 2023
