FOOD RELIEF — Hospital Sister Sophia Pulliyadan is shown at the Haitian Health Foundation’s clinic in Jeremie, Haiti. Hospital Sisters Health System in Springfield recently shipped more than 32,000 pounds of concentrated food products to Haiti to help ease food shortages there.

More than 32,000 pounds of concentrated food products were shipped to Haiti recently by Hospital Sisters Health System to help ease food shortages on the island that have intensified a hunger crisis and sparked civil unrest.

In recent weeks rising global food prices have inflamed the situation in Haiti, where 47 percent of the population was already reported to be suffering from malnutrition.

In a partnership with the Bloomington-based Midwest Food Bank and Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach, HSHS is paying for the delivery of 648 50-pound bags of textured vegetable protein, a soy-based food supplement that, when cooked, is akin to rice or mashed potatoes.

"The rising cost of food in poorer countries like Haiti is a crisis and those of us who are blessed to live in a land of plenty cannot ignore this plight," said Stephanie S. McCutcheon, president and chief executive officer of HSHS. "We hope that this donation in some small way will help nourish families that are struggling just to survive."

The vegetable protein, with a market value of more than $104,000, is being donated by Midwest Food Bank. HSHS and its sister organization, Mission Outreach, are funding the transportation and other logistics between Illinois and the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince. In Haiti, the food then will be transported along the coast to the town of Jeremie, home of the Haitian Health Foundation, a private organization that the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis have been associated with since 1989.

"This vegetable protein product is a highly nutritious meat substitute that is donated to us regularly by Archer Daniels Midland in Decatur," said Jessica Junis, communications manager for Midwest Food Bank. "We are grateful to be able to work with partners to get this product to the places where it is needed the most."

According to the United Nations World Food Program rising food prices around the world can be traced to higher transportation costs, rising demand from a growing world population and increased prices for corn, the result of a growing demand for bio-fuels. Higher corn prices lead to higher costs for livestock that are raised on grain. The U.N. says that around the world 100 million people cannot afford enough food to keep themselves healthy.

The Midwest Food Bank is a not-for-profit organization that collects large food donations and distributes them at no cost to other non-profits and disaster sites across the United States.

Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach is a not-for-profit organization based in Springfield and sponsored by the Hospital Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis. Mission Outreach is focused on the recovery and responsible redistribution of healthcare equipment and supplies to developing countries. Partnering with the 13 HSHS Local Systems and many Midwestern medical facilities, Mission Outreach collects, refurbishes, tests and redistributes more than $2 million in surplus equipment and supplies each year, aiming to send every item exactly where it is needed and can be used.

HSHS hospitals in Wisconsin are located in Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire and Sheboygan, with two in Green Bay. In Illinois, the HSHS hospitals are located in Belleville, Breese, Decatur, Effingham, Highland, Litchfield, Springfield and Streator.