Doing What Works: Capacity Crowd Hears Message of Urgency, Hope and Success in Saving Children’s Lives and Transforming Their Futures

“Meds & Food for Kids defines sustainable resilience and systems change. Every dollar delivered not only saves lives – but changes systems – and transforms the lives of children in Haiti and children everywhere. We have the tools and we know what works,” Ambassador Ertharin Cousin said at the third annual Zero Hunger: Doing What Works forum presented by MFK.

Hearing that message, a capacity crowd of over 200 international leaders, St. Louis innovators and passionate allies in the fight against world hunger rose to their feet with applause. Supporters gathered in record numbers to learn about solutions that work to build sustainable food systems locally and globally. Motivated by urgency, the audience was equally inspired by hope and spurred to action by the proof of success that MFK delivers to the children of Haiti and offers to the world. 

Despite the challenges in Haiti, Meds & Food for Kids’ locally driven approach has treated more than one million malnourished children, trained thousands of Haitian farmers, and built a model for sustainable food systems that empower communities to thrive.

The keynote speaker, Ambassador Ertharin Cousin, is a globally recognized champion for food security. She served as executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Agencies for Food and Agriculture. She now leads the Food Systems for the Future Institute as managing director and CEO, advancing equitable access to affordable, nutritious food. She brought the depth of her extraordinary insight to her presentation Exploring the Future of Aid: Local Leadership, Public-Private Collaboration, and Sustainable Change. 

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Meds & Foods for Kids Forum Spotlights St. Louis’ Leadership in Fight Against World Hunger on September 18th

ST. LOUIS (AUGUST 26, 2025) – International leaders in the fight against world hunger will gather in St. Louis on September 18 to amplify solutions for building a sustainable food system. Meds & Food for Kids, a nonprofit dedicated to ending childhood malnutrition in Haiti with its U.S. bureau in St. Louis, will host Zero Hunger: Doing What Works with keynote speaker Ambassador Ertharin Cousin. Now in its third year, Zero Hunger highlights the role St. Louis plays in combating hunger and malnutrition worldwide. The event is on Thursday, September 18, from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. at The Courses at Forest Park,6141 Lagoon Dr, St. Louis. Tickets are available at mfkhaiti.org.

Meds & Food for Kids (MFK) produces and delivers lifesaving therapeutic food and delivers it to starving children, even in Haiti’s most isolated communities. Missouri-based leaders in the fight against hunger will join passionate supporters of MFK for the evening of insight and inspiration.

The keynote speaker, Ambassador Ertharin Cousin, is a globally recognized champion for food security. She served as executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Agencies for Food and Agriculture. She now leads the Food Systems for the Future Institute as managing director and CEO, advancing equitable access to affordable, nutritious food for all.

Ambassador Cousin will speak on the topic of Exploring the Future of Aid: Local Leadership, Public-Private Collaboration, and Sustainable Change. She will discuss solutions for building a sustainable food system, including those that bridge the gap from relief to resilience as Meds & Food for Kids does. The Ambassador will also emphasize the value of investment and public-private partnerships to build the capacity of local communities and break the cycle of dependency.

Despite the challenges in Haiti, Meds & Food for Kids’ innovative, locally driven approach has treated more than one million malnourished children, trained thousands of Haitian farmers, and built a model for sustainable food systems that empower communities to thrive.

“Every child deserves the chance to grow up healthy and strong,” remarked Chris Greene, Chief Executive Officer of Meds & Food for Kids. “Zero Hunger 2025 spotlights how people and organizations in St. Louis lead the way in addressing the root causes of hunger and creating a future where every child is nourished. Ambassador Cousin will bring her extraordinary insight about the private sector’s unique and powerful role in bringing solutions to scale, mobilizing resources, and ensuring that investments reach where they are needed most.”

In 2003, Patricia Wolff, MD, a pediatrician and clinical professor of pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, founded MFK to address the needless suffering and deaths of children from severe, acute malnutrition that she witnessed during her medical mission trips to Haiti. Over more than 20 years, the MFK team has developed an internationally recognized model of sustainable, locally led economic development that incorporates agricultural innovation, local manufacturing, and nutrition science.

Tickets are $71 per person, the amount needed to treat one child with severe acute malnutrition in Haiti. Proceeds support MFK’s lifesaving programs in Haiti.

St. Louis High School Students Meet World Food Prize Laureate

Meds & Food for Kids Convenes Experts and Community to Address Hunger Crisis

April 26, 2024
Contact: Maggie Probert, Meds & Food for Kids, 314-630-2119

ST. LOUIS APRIL 26, 2024 – Students from Notre Dame High School in south St. Louis joined local, national, and international leaders to explore solutions to the hunger crisis that affects one in six Missouri children.1 Worldwide, a child dies every 10 seconds from malnutrition, which claims the lives more than 3 million children every year.2

Meds & Food for Kids presented the Second Annual Zero Hunger: Doing What Works forum, a public discussion to amplify proven strategies and innovative approaches aimed at achieving the United Nations’ goal of a world free of hunger by 2030.

“Domestic food insecurity, violent conflict and climate catastrophes are causing a tragic setback to the UN’s goal of a hunger-free world,” said Chris Greene, CEO of Meds & Food for Kids.  “It’s an important time to highlight how people and organizations in the St. Louis region are making a difference on a global scale.” [See below Why St. Louis Matters in this Fight]

ST. LOUIS STUDENTS ENGAGE WITH EXPERTS

Recognizing this as a social justice issue affecting their generation’s future here and around the world, St. Louis students and their teachers had the opportunity share their concerns and perspectives with World Food Prize Laureate Catherine Bertini, who has been recognized for leadership of the World Food Programme and “Feed the Future,” as well as many initiatives to improve the lives of children and advocate for women and girls. Bertini was appointed to senior positions by three UN secretaries general and five US presidents. She is Founder of the Trust Fund for Girls’ Education and Managing Director of the Rockefeller Foundation Food Initiative.

Keynote speaker Bertini was joined by a panel of leading experts on the local, national and global issue of hunger, including:

• Lora Iannotti, PhD, is founding director of the E3 Nutrition Lab, working to identify economically affordable and environmentally sustainable nutrition solutions globally. She is also the first Director of Planetary Health and Environmental Justice at the new Center for the Environment at Washington University in St. Louis.
• Eric Mitchell is President of the Alliance to End Hunger. He leads and mobilizes a network of companies, nonprofit organizations, universities, foundations, and individuals to end hunger domestically and globally.
• Kristen Wild is President and CEO of Operation Food Search. She oversees the operations, programs and initiatives OFS sets forth in the mission of healing hunger and strengthening the St. Louis region.

WHY ST. LOUIS MATTERS IN THIS FIGHT

For many reasons St. Louis is considered to be at the center of world-wide efforts to solve the hunger crisis. The region is home to leaders in cutting-edge research in plant breeding, genomics, and sustainable agriculture practices and dozens of growing life sciences and biotech companies that are part of the innovation ecosystem. Others are focused on delivering these solutions where they are desperately needed.

It’s been more than 20 years since Plumpy’Nut – the life-saving, Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) – was brought to international attention and distribution. Washington University pediatricians were instrumental in developing this product and establishing the agricultural and manufacturing techniques to Haiti. Considered the gold standard for saving starving children by the World Health Organization, RUTF saves children from starvation within weeks of receiving treatment.

RIGHT NOW – HERE IN ST. LOUIS –

• Meds and Food for Kids’ Established 20 years ago by St. Louis pediatrician Dr. Patricia Wolff, the organization supports production of Plumpy’Nut and other nutritional supplements manufactured by more than 90 Haitians – who work bravely in Cap-Haitien to meet the need in their country and 17 other countries around the world.

• Operation Food Search feeds over 200,000 people every month, distributing $30 million worth of food and necessities each year to 330 community partners in 40 Missouri and Illinois.

• E3 Nutrition Lab at Washington University in St. Louis’s Brown School is leading transdisciplinary research focused on maternal and young child nutrition in resource-poor settings to promote healthy growth and brain development.

• Alliance to End Hunger can directly impact the resources for children’s nutrition here in Missouri as well as around the world, through their work in Washington, DC to advocate for federal policies that address child hunger and malnutrition. 

For more information about Meds & Food for Kids, visit mfkhaiti.org

Meds & Food for Kids Presents
2nd Annual Zero Hunger: Doing What Works Forum

Experts Convene Forum on Proven & Innovative Solutions to End Hunger

April 25, 2025, | 11: am – 2: pm
Hilton St. Louis Frontenac

Who/What:

Meds & Food for Kids is convening a panel of leading experts on local, national, and global hunger aimed at achieving the United Nations’ goal of a world free of hunger by 2030.

The Event includes a Keynote Address, Panel discussion & public Q & A, to amplify proven strategies and innovative approaches.

When/Where:

• April 25, 2024 | 11:am – 2:pm | Hilton Frontenac | 1335 S Lindbergh Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63131

Keynote Speaker:

• Catherine Bertini is a World Food Prize Laureate and three-time UN Under-Secretary-General. She is the Founder of the Trust Fund for Girls’ Education and Managing Director of the Rockefeller Foundation Food Initiative.

Panelists:

• Lora Iannotti, PhD, is the founding director of the E3 Nutrition Lab, working to identify economically affordable and environmentally sustainable nutrition solutions globally. She is also the first Director of Planetary Health and
  Environmental Justice at the new Center for the Environment at Washington University in St. Louis.
• Eric Mitchell is President of the Alliance to End Hunger. He leads and mobilizes a network of companies, nonprofit organizations, universities, foundations, and individuals to end hunger domestically and globally.
• Kristen Wild is the President and CEO of Operation Food Search. She oversees the operations, programs, and initiatives t0 heal hunger and strengthen the St. Louis region.

Moderator:

• Chris Greene is CEO of Meds & Food for Kids. He works with the organization’s global stakeholders, partners and a team of 90 Haitians who produce lifesaving ready-to-use therapeutic food in Cap-Haitien, Haiti for the treatment of malnourished children and mothers in Haiti and 17 other countries.

Members of the media are invited to attend the forum at no charge. Tickets are available for purchase @ $50/person: Tickets and Sponsorships

For more information about Meds & Food for Kids, visit mfkhaiti.org

Schedule interviews with panelists via Maggie Probert| mprobert@mfkhaiti.org | 314.630.2119

Friends,

2023 is coming to a close, and as we reflect on the year we are proud to share some of Meds & Food for Kids’ key milestones:

• This year was MFK’s 20th anniversary. Children saved in the organization’s early years are now young adults, whose talents would have been lost to malnutrition two decades ago without treatment.
• Our factory in Haiti is now using solar energy instead of diesel. This has enabled MFK to produce more therapeutic foods with additional shifts, and so far has reduced over 211 tons of CO2 emissions.
• In May MFK produced a record 15,000 treatments for severely malnourished children.
• We hosted our first annual “Zero Hunger: Doing What Works” forum featuring author Roger Thurow discussing solutions for the global hunger crisis.
• CEO Chris Greene and COO Remenson Tenor hosted the first MFK Zoom calls to share updates about the work in Haiti.‍

This is possible thanks to donors who support MFK’s work to save lives and transform futures.

Over 20 years, we have treated more than 900,000 malnourished children and mothers. Together, we can reach 1 million.

Thank you for an incredible 2023. We look forward to seeing what we can achieve together in 2024.

Mèsi anpil,
Chris Greene, CEO
Remenson Tenor, COO
Dr. Patricia Wolff, Founder