About
This blog is an experiment in collaborative reporting. The objective is to learn as much as possible about patents, Plumpy’nut and the needs of millions of malnourished children around the world.
Some background: Plumpy’nut is a combination of peanut butter and powdered milk with a few vitamins and minerals thrown in for good measure. Ever since the mixture was introduced to humanitarian organizations a few years ago, it has saved the lives of many malnourished children around the world and garnered Nutriset, the company that makes it, a great deal of positive press. Often overlooked, however, is the fact that Nutriset has patented Plumpy’nut.
The idea is to create a diverse group of individuals (what James Surowiecki would call tapping the wisdom of crowds) to examine the Plumpy’nut story from a wide range of legal, ethical, business and other angles.
Some of the questions we’re trying to explore: What effect–for good or for ill or somewhere in between–has the patent(s) on Plumpy’nut had on meeting the needs of malnourished children? Has patenting Plumpy’nut attracted greater investment in an otherwise overlooked field? Has it hindered the ability of humanitarian groups to make their own peanut-packed mixes?
We invite you to help explore these and other questions.
