Doug
rayrena wrote:
>Hungry, but Not That Hungry
>
>REUTERS
>
> Kukes, Albania - Kosovo refugees are throwing away U.S.-donated
>rations by the thousands and have even burned some to keep warm,
>complaining that the food is inedible and has made people sick.
> Piles of unopened packages, each labeled "A Food Gift from the
>People of the United States of America," litter the grounds of makeshift
>camps housing many of the 150,000 ethnic Albanians who have poured
>across the border in recent weeks.
> "We know the Americans want to help, but the food is just no
>good," said Arolelina Ajazi, 18.
> A Defense Department spokesman had trumpeted the 2,200-calorie
>meals as enough to feed one refugee for one day and "suitable for all
>faiths."
> Desperate refugees fought for the packages, officially known as
>Humanitarian Daily Rations, when they were first distributed off the
>backs of trucks several days ago.
> But some later said the meals - which include items such as
>three-bean casserole, legume stew and vegetarian goulash which are
>foreign to their normal diet - made their children vomit.
> "We don't eat it because the children get a fever and throw up and
>are going to be poisoned," said Selvie Gashi, 27.
> The refugees are used to a diet based on potatoes, rice and beans.
> Many of the packages were discarded in fetid trenches and streams
>filled with garbage and excrement. But several families were seen
>huddling around campfires using boxes of rations to help fuel the
>flames.
> Medical experts said similar problems were reported during a
>humanitarian mission in Somalia, where U.S. military rations were too
>rich for the local population.