Festival of Flavors:
1st National MannaPack Recipe Contest
Last Friday, October 16, the first MannaPack National Recipe Contest was held, organized by Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) in collaboration with its partner network, CROPPS Guatemala, as part of the World Food Day celebration. Women from different communities and regions gathered in Guatemala City to showcase their culture, cuisine, and everything they have learned through incredible recipes.
FMSC operates with one conviction: hope begins with food. In line with the global goal of “Zero Hunger,” the organization developed MannaPack, a fortified meal that combines rice or potatoes with soy, vegetables, and micronutrients that provide essential proteins, vitamins, and minerals. Its versatility has allowed thousands of people to incorporate it into their cooking, transforming nutrition in their households.
In 2025, FMSC shipped more than 380 million meals to 67 partner organizations in 57 countries, and its meals fed more than one million children every day. Between January and July 2026, 237.8 million meals had already been shipped. By mid-2025, MannaPack had already reached 110 communities in Honduras and Guatemala. (Source: FMSC Hunger Bulletin, August 2026)
CROPPS: REACHING EVERY CORNER TOGETHER
To ensure that this impact grows and endures, FMSC launched CROPPS, a sustainability initiative that brings together partner organizations working in the same country to collaborate, build relationships, and share resources.
In Guatemala, in addition to Seeds for Progress, the network includes organizations such as: Fabretto Children’s Foundation, Convoy of Hope, International Care Ministries (ICM), Buckner International, Believe Guatemala, and Cross Catholic Outreach represented locally by the Asociación Amigos por la Salud y la Vida and Cáritas Arquidiocesana. Other partner organizations also collaborate through these institutions. In this way, every MannaPack meal reaches further, extending to all those communities where there is a child in need of a nutritious meal.
From each community to the national stage
The organizations first held a regional contest in the communities where they work, and the finalists who made it to this event emerged from those contests. Each organization uses MannaPack differently, depending on its agricultural practices, culture, and culinary traditions. That exchange was at the heart of the contest: the cooks shared their knowledge with other regions and returned home with new ideas.
Every table confirmed that MannaPack is a versatile product that adapts to a wide variety of flavors, ingredients, and traditions. From traditional Guatemalan dishes like enchiladas, garnachas, and carrot cake to adaptations of international cuisine, such as sushi and even beverages, these recipes exceeded all expectations. This confirms that neither the cooks, their creativity, nor MannaPack have any limits.
In addition to flavors, the room was also filled with emotion. Amid tears and immense pride, the cooks were honored and applauded. And although not everyone made it to the podium, they all earned a place in our hearts (and in our stomachs).
We congratulate all the chefs and all the organizations for their effort and dedication to each recipe, especially our fellow podium finishers: Convoy of Hope (1st place) and ICM (3rd place). We express our most sincere gratitude to international chef Camila Chávez and nutritionist Ivette Alvarado, who served as special guest judges.
This day provided an opportunity for the women cooks to make their voices heard, learn from other women, and express their opinions. With each dish, they conveyed love, culture, and hope, and demonstrated that the solution to hunger is also cooked up in community, no matter where in the country they may be.
Events like this remind us how important it is to create spaces that empower the women who sustain these communities’ food systems. Without a doubt, we all won that day.
