Students can now do more than just satisfy their hunger with Two Degrees nutrition bars — they will be giving children the vital nutrition they need to survive.

Kevin Phu, a senior chemistry major at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, is the ESF/Syracuse University campus director for the Two Degrees company, which donates nutrition packs to children in developing countries.

Two Degrees uses the ‘one-for-one’ model, in which a nutrition pack is donated to a needy child in a developing country for every bar purchased, Phu said. The bars are sold at People’s Place in Hendricks Chapel, Phu said.

‘I have a big interest in food access and food security,’ he said. ‘I worked at an urban farm in Chicago, so this definitely tied in to my interests.’

The nutrition bars come in three flavors: cherry almond, chocolate peanut and apple pecan, Phu said.

The Two Degrees company has donated 45,000 nutrition packs to children in Malawi, Kenya, Somalia and Haiti, according to the company website. Nutrition packs contain peanut-based bars that are high in protein and fatty acid.

Phu said the company’s name is simple and explains its mission.

‘There are two degrees of separation between you and the child that you’re helping,’ Phu said. ‘And that’s what you get when you purchase a nutrition bar.’

Two Degrees was started in 2010 by Will Hauser and Lauren Walters. Despite a 35-year age gap, the two have similar backgrounds in business, according to the company’s website.

Phu said the partners were inspired by Toms Shoes, a company that provides a pair of shoes to a needy child for every pair of shoes purchased. After visiting a refugee camp in Africa and witnessing the food scarcity, Hauser and Walters created Two Degrees, he said.

There are more than 60 colleges partnered with Two Degrees across the country, all with college students serving as campus directors, said Phu, who got involved through a friend who acts as the campus director at New York University.

The nutrition packs are made by a company that has manufacturing plants in Malawi, Ethiopia and Zambia, and sources local ingredients when possible, providing the communities with vital jobs, Phu said. Two Degrees recently partnered with Whole Foods Market to distribute the bars nationally, according to the website.

Phu said he hopes to see Two Degrees take off and be as successful as the company’s inspiration, Toms Shoes.

‘Toms just expanded to provide eye care for every pair of eyeglasses purchased,’ Phu said. ‘I think the fact that Toms expanded as quickly as it did gives Two Degrees the potential to expand as well.’

Phu said his goal is to get retailers on Westcott Street and SU Food Services to carry the nutrition bars once the success of the program can be proven.

‘A lot of them have expressed concern for the price, but for the quality of the nutrition bar you’re getting and providing a lifesaving nutrition pack for a hungry child, you’re really getting a deal,’ he said.

People’s Place was an ideal choice, said Phu, because it is a nonprofit, which could encourage patrons to put the money they save toward a Two Degrees nutrition bar.

Said Phu: ‘I think students will be willing to spend the extra $2 to help a child in need.’

jlsiart@syr.edu

Published on October 30, 2011 at 12:00 pm