history of meals for millions, soy, and freedom from ... - SoyInfo Center

Unfortunately this effort was not successful because there
was little encouragement at that time for foreign
investment.” After he left General Mills, Fred was a
consultant to some food manufacturer in Japan. “He is from
Minneapolis and I have not heard from him for quite some
time now.”
When Col. Saunders (who lives in California)
succeeded Florence Rose, he visited Sri Lanka and I was
offered an opportunity to undergo training at the MFM
Training School in Santa Monica, California in 1971.
“Upon my return to Sri Lanka from training at MFM in
California I did submit proposals for the setting up of a
mixing plant using imported soy grits for a start to produce
a kind of MFM here, but this proposal did not find support.
“An important development after 1971 in regard to
Soyabean was the Poshana Exhibition held in Sri Lanka
which too gave considerable impetus to soybean
development in Sri Lanka. The Exhibition was held under
the Ceylon MFM Foundation auspices.
“Much of the development thereafter, from about 1973,
came through Government initiative and developments
which you probably have been able to document from
various sources.
“In 1971 when I was at MFM Training Institute at
Santa Monica I had the privilege of meeting Mr. Ernest R.
Chamberlain [age 80] who was for a long time the secretary
of the Meals for Millions Foundation and who, with Mr.
Clifford Clinton, Dr. Henry Borsook and Miss Florence
Rose pioneered the development of the Meals for Millions
in the U.S.A. and developed it into a worldwide activity.”
But today it stands much muted due to a host of
developments which have since taken place.
Mr. Chamberlain told me that he wanted to attempt to
write the history of the Meals for Millions Foundation and
he sent me some of the first notes prepared by him in this
respect. Presumably he could not complete his work
because of his advanced age and for other reasons. I can
send photocopies of this material if it will interest you.
“For various reasons I have not been able to preserve
all the records of Meals for Millions which I had
accumulated over time. But I still have some records which
I can share with you if you are interested.
“Part of the reason why there is this gap in information
was because when I went to the U.S.A. for training on
soybean work in 1971, I gave away my files and did not get
them back because I was not re-elected as the secretary of
the MFM Foundation, which at that time I had served as
Secretary / Treasurer ad later as Secretary for more than a
decade, all the work having been done in an honorary
[volunteer] capacity... Hence my difficulty in tracing events
chronologically.
“If there is any way in which you think I can be helpful,
please do not hesitate to avail yourself of my services.”
MEALS FOR MILLIONS, SOY, AND FREEDOM FROM HUNGER 141
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2011
Note: A search of the Web for Hewage Jayasena shows
that he was interviewed in March 1994 in Colombo, Sri
Lanka by a person from the International Development
Research Center (IDRC-CRDI) of Canada. Address: 185
Baseline Rd., Borella, Colombo 9, Sri Lanka.
319. Meals for Millions / Freedom from Hunger
Foundation. 1985. Annual report 1984: Self-help for a
hungry world. Davis, California: MFM / FFH Foundation.
16 p. 21.5 x 9.5 cm.
• Summary: Peter J. Davies is no longer president after
“eight years of inspirational direction.” Thomas C. Veblen is
chairperson, board of trustees. The introductory message is
given by Tom C. Veblen. On the green, black and white
cover is a photo of a older man holding a young child.
MFM has a new logo, a stylized upright plant in the middle
of a stylized globe, on the front cover.
Gifts for program support totalled $2.474 million in
1984, up 31% over 1983. “In addition, $492,783 of Capital
Campaign gifts helped Meals for Millions complete the
funding of its International Center.”
“A few days before the April 15 deadline, MFM raised
the $975,000 required to qualify for a $225,000 Challenge
Grant from the Kresge Foundation, completing a $1.2
million campaign to fund our new International Center in
Davis, California.” A photo apparently shows the new
building. Address: 1644 DaVinci Court, P.O. Box 2000,
Davis, California 95617. Phone: (916) 758-6200.
320. Shurtleff, William; Aoyagi, Akiko. 1985. History of
soya and the soybean development program in Sri Lanka.
Soyfoods Center, P.O. Box 234, Lafayette, CA 94549. 31 p.
April 16. Unpublished typescript.
• Summary: www.soyinfocenter.com/HSS/ AsSoSriL1. A
comprehensive history of the subject. Contents:
Introduction. Demographic background. Early history of
soya in Sri Lanka. Meals for Millions in Ceylon (1955-
1972). Establishment of Sri Lanka soybean development
program. A brief chronology of key events: 1973-.
Activities of the soybean development program: summary.
Soybean production project. Soyanews. The Soyabean
Foods Research Center. Role of Sri Lankan government and
Thriposha. Commercial production of soyfoods.
Institutional use of soyfoods: hospitals, prisons. Ongoing
training abroad. Future prospects for soybeans and
soyfoods. Conclusion.
Note: By the year 2000 it was clear that the soybean
programs that had been so active during the period from
1955 to 1990 had not succeeded in helping the soybean to
take root permanently in Sri Lankan food culture and
agriculture. We would suggest several reasons. (1) The
Meals for Millions program ended up as basically a food
giveaway program, which was unsustainable. (2) The
program that involved the University of Illinois and